Cloaked Foresight
by The Jedi Wizard Hobbit
Summary: Sequel to Echoes In Eternity! Surprises are in store for Remus Lupin, and not all of them are pleasant. Sirius has... issues at his new job. And how will Ivy adjust to her new life? So much plot, so little point in trying to sum up! Just read and enjoy!
1. Employment, Rudeness, and Housewarming

**Important Author's Note!: **IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ECHOES IN ETERNITY DO NOT READ THIS! IT WILL NOT MAKE SENSE! IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS THEN READ ITS PREDECESSOR!

Okay, this is a bit long, but you should read all of the suthor's note, so bear with me...

Also, I finally did it! I wrote the chapter, even with college preparations, AP tests, shows, and speech team! I'm so sorry for the wait and I promise it will never be that long again if I can help it. I will not update every week, but I will work very hard to update quickly. It will be easier when school is out. I would respond to each and everyone of your lovely reviews from the last chapter of Echoes, but that would take very long for me to type out, and I assume that you want this chapter ASAP. So I'm sorry for that, and if you still have a specific question to ask me or comments you want an answer to, please let me know and I will respond. I will respond to **all **reviews given to me for this story as well.

Someone suggested that I put review responses at the end of the chapter, so it would be easier to get right to the story. Would you guys prefer that? 'Cause I'll do it if you like. Again thank you so much for your reviews, I wish I could respond to them all, but I felt that you'd waited long enough for this chapter! And you all know how much I value your thoughts and comments anyway... at least I hope you do, because I really do! You're the people I'm writing this story for, and without all your support this wouldn't mean a thing. So thanks... okay, I'll stop getting fluffy with you guys, after all that's what the story is for, right?

**Oh**, and this story is dedicated to Kate and Sarah, the girls who beta read this story and its predecessor. They are great editors (one for content and the other, my grammar Nazi) and the best friends anyone could ask for. I wouldn't have written this story if they hadn't drawn it out of me, and made me realize that I wanted to write it. I spent hours discussing these plots with them and they have helped me every step of the way. None of this would be any good without you two. So thanks.

Okay, I'll get on with it! So now without further ado, here is the first chapter...

**Cloaked Foresight**

****

**_Chapter One – Employment, Rudeness, and Housewarming_**

Remus Lupin wandered through the hallways of Hogwarts for no particular reason. Well, if truth were told, he was looking for his wife.

Summer had started to wind down and the students would be back in a few weeks. The teaching staff was starting to come back and get their curriculums in order. His honeymoon was over. Well, that's what the staff wanted to believe, and Remus was perfectly content to let them think so. Of course, it didn't fool Sirius for one minute.

He walked down the halls with a letter in his hand. It contained a matter that he had to discuss with Ivy, for although it was addressed to him, she was the new headmistress and all matters concerning the school had to be brought to her attention. Remus was very happy with how Ivy was handling her new duties. She had moved her things into Albus' old office and finally started to pay a great deal of attention to her executive tasks. The only thing that had started to worry him was how often Ivy was talking to the portrait of Albus that hung behind her desk when she needed advice.

Their marriage was settling in both their minds as well. They had moved into the large apartment that was directly off of Ivy's new office. It only unnerved him every now and then that they were sharing a bed in the same room that Albus and many other great headmasters had slept in. Thinking about it too much was enough to make anyone feel sick to their stomach. And of course, all the portraits in the room had to be removed.

Remus found himself passing by Professor McGonagall's office, and he stopped to see if she was in. He found her sitting at her desk scribbling thoughtfully on a piece of parchment, and knocked politely on the open door to announce his presence. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Remus. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Remus was always glad to talk to her before the school year began. She was always less severe when she didn't feel that there were students everywhere to keep a stern façade on for. "I was wondering if you had any idea were Ivy might be. I've been looking for her, but I can't seem to track her down."

"Shouldn't you be using that keen nose of yours?" she quipped. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen her since breakfast. If I see her later I'll tell her to find you, though."

Remus nodded. "Thanks, Minerva." With that, he ducked out the door and continued his search.

* * *

Ivy Dumbledore was totally unaware that her husband was searching the castle for her because at that same moment she was down in the dungeons searching for someone else. She entered the classroom to find it empty, and then tried the office to find it equally abandoned. Starting to worry, she finally made her way to Severus Snape's personal chambers. She knocked on the door hesitantly, subconsciously afraid of being snapped at by a familiar voice, but instead was greeted by a weak call.

"Come in, if you must. The door is open."

Ivy entered the room to find an alarmingly pale Severus Snape lying on a green couch with a wool blanket pulled up to his stomach. He held a glass containing a dark red liquid against his chest, and a handkerchief lay beside him. His hooked nose was bright red and the hand that was not clutching the glass hung limply at his side.

Ivy took a few steps forward. "Severus? Are you all right? Are you sick?"

Snape rolled his eyes and sniffed lightly. "I have always been amazed by the female capacity to ask questions about the most obvious things. Yes, headmistress, I am indeed sick." At that moment, his limp hand flew to the handkerchief next to him, which he brought up to his raw nose as he sneezed loudly.

Ivy jumped at the sound and said, but continued the conversation anyway. "Bless you. Really, Severus, there's no need for you to call me headmistress. We've known each other since we were kids. I'd feel much more comfortable if you'd call me Ivy."

Snape scoffed, or scoffed as much as he was able to while coughing. "I called the Dumbledore before you headmaster. And might I add that as the head of this school you need to demand the respect of your colleagues as well as your students. Such respect requires that formality be used in certain instances. I don't know how you're planning on running this school, but I will always follow the rules of discipline and protocol that were laid down by the founders. This demands formality between us since you are my superior and, therefore, I will call you headmistress."

Ivy gave up immediately. Though she was now his superior, Ivy knew that she would never feel equal to the meticulous eloquence and constant control that was Severus Snape. Instead, she simply heaved an uncomfortable sigh. "Right…"

"I assume that you are here for some reason," came the slightly agitated voice.

"Oh, yes." Ivy nodded and changed gears, now remembering why she had come. "I don't now how you'll feel about this, but I recently got an owl from St. Mungo's Hospital. It was about Draco Malfoy."

Snape's eyes narrowed. Ivy could tell that she finally had his attention.

"I'm sure you've heard a lot about how he's been doing lately. You know, with Lucius getting killed by Voldemort right before the last battle and how Draco kind of lost-"

"I'm quite aware of the details," Snape said quietly.

Ivy took a deep breath. "Well, St. Mungo's thinks that it's time for him to start his life again. Time for him to find a job and start taking care of himself, you know. So they sent me a letter wondering if I could find something for him to do here since people right now are reluctant to hire the children of former Death Eaters. And I remembered how good you always said he was at potions, and I was wondering if maybe you needed an assistant or an apprentice or something…"

Snape thought for a moment, staring at the floor. Finally, he looked up. "He'll have to work. I'm not giving him any special treatment. If he comes here, he better expect to have a lot to do because I'm not going to baby-sit him into recovery."

Ivy nodded. "Of course. I'll tell them."

Snape furrowed his brow in thought and took a sip from his glass. Ivy turned to leave, but stopped as she watched him drinking. She smirked. "That's not wine, is it? I mean, I know you drink a lot of it, but it can't be good for you when you're so ill."

Snape glared at her. "It's pomegranate juice with Echinacea and Goldenseal," he said disdainfully, as if she had just forced him to divulge some great secret. "My own remedy."

Ivy smiled and backed up toward the door. "Feel better," she said cheerfully.

"Thank you for your pains in coming to find me, headmistress," he replied, though Ivy noted a sarcastic lilt in his tone.

She nodded once more and back out through the door. Once she had turned around and shut it behind her, she heard another great sneeze. Ivy chuckled to herself and hurried away.

* * *

Remus was rounding what had to be his sixty-fifth corner in his search when he careened right into his quarry. He had been lost in his own thoughts at that point, and when he felt himself run into something he was prepared to start apologizing bashfully, when he looked down and found the face that he now knew better than his own. He quickly threw his arms around her waist feigning that he was afraid she might fall, and instead of apologizing, he scolded, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

She donned a 'who, moi?' look, and leaned back in his arms. "I was just on my way back up to ours rooms to find you."

Remus tilted his head to one side and donned his twisted Marauder grin that he only used when he was feeling particularly mischievous. "And what were you planning on doing once you found me?"

Ivy knew that look and tone far too well. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you suggesting that my intentions were less than honorable?" She laughed when he shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. "You really have to stop talking like that. All the staff members are coming back and someone's bound to hear you sooner or later. What do you want everyone to think? That their new headmistress is involved in a scandalous relationship with one of her employees?"

Remus pulled her closer to him and brought his face down to hers, brushing his lips across her cheek. "No, I want them to think that the headmistress' husband, who happens to be an exemplary Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, is involved in a scandalous relationship with his wife."

Ivy tried half-heartedly to push him away as he began to nuzzle her neck. "Please, you can't fool me for a second! You would absolutely die if someone were to pass by right now and see you behaving like this."

He pulled back and smiled warmly at her while running a hand through her hair, caressing the side of her face. "No, that's not true. I have no reason to be ashamed of this." He tilted her face up to his and kissed her with all the passion he could muster.

Ivy had apparently not expected such a display of affection. When they broke the kiss Remus leaned his forehead against hers and stared at her, but Ivy couldn't open her eyes.

"I demand a warning next time," she ordered.

"No you don't. It wouldn't be anywhere near as enjoyable if I warned you, and you know it."

"Fine, you win. Now what?"

Remus pulled up the letter that he'd had in his hand, now slightly crumpled from their recent activity. "I received this letter from one of the wizarding schools in America. They knew that you had taught in their country and implored me to ask a favor of you."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "What kind of favor?"

Remus handed her the letter so she could look it over as he explained. "They're having some problems with finding good headmasters, so they wanted to know if they could send a trainee out here for a year to observe how you run the school."

She laughed. "Observe how I run the school? As if I know what I'm doing?"

He pointed to a passage in the letter. "They said that they are aware that this is your first semester as headmistress, but that they feel confident that with your former experience and family background you will be a fine example to the person they send over."

Ivy groaned. "What school is it?"

"Starlight Canyon School of Sorcery."

She blinked. "Where are they from?"

Remus took the letter from her and looked it over as he tried to recall on his own. "Somewhere in the south. I think it might have said Texas."

Ivy burst out cackling. "Texas? This has got to be some sort of joke! Who in their right mind would send a Texan to study schooling techniques at a primarily British school?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea, but I can assure you that they are quite serious about the endeavor. They said that if you agreed he would be here four days before the start of term."

She took the letter from him and skimmed it one more time. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. They seem to have their hearts set on it, and I'm in no mood to argue with them. As long as he doesn't get in my way, I'm fine with it."

Remus nodded. "I'll let them know."

He turned around to leave, but Ivy stopped him by grabbing hold of his arm and dragging him down a different hallway. "No, stay. I haven't seen you at all today. Tell me what you've done so far. Oh, has Sirius found a job yet?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "No, not yet. It's really rather ridiculous. Harry and Ron both found jobs before he did."

"Harry has _two_ jobs," Ivy reminded him. "But then again, he and Ron are worldwide heroes. I think people are still a bit wary of Sirius, despite the fact that he's been cleared for a while. He's trying to undo sixteen years of imprisonment and hiding with a few months of freedom. People aren't going to buy it that easily. Besides, I'm less worried about him than I was about Harry. How's he doing at Ollivanders?"

Remus smiled. "Wonderfully, according to Sirius. Ollivander really loves having him there. He's getting older now, you know, and he doesn't like handling everything himself. Harry's been taking care of all the labor aspects; getting the wands unpacked and sorting them correctly. Harry says that he's enjoying it so far. As for his other job… I just hope that Sirius doesn't bother him too much."

Ivy giggled. "I hear you there. So where's Sirius trying his luck today?"

"Actually, I was the one who suggested that he try this place. I figured that since he'd always been rather good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, especially when it came to the dark creatures unit, and since he'd had so much experience with me that he should try getting a job at the Dark Creatures Care and Crisis Center. It's only partly affiliated with the Ministry so he'd really be able to help some of the people-"

But Remus stopped when he saw the shocked look on Ivy's face. Then a devious smile crept to the corners of her mouth.

"What?"

"Oh, Remus, you have no idea how happy you've just made me. See, I don't think you realized that we know someone who works there.… Yes, that would be brilliant…"

"Who works there? What are you talking about?"

"You'll see.… I'll tell you as soon as I sort the whole thing out in my own head. Just give me a minute or two. Come down to the kitchens with me, I'm going to make some hot chocolate. Then I'll sit you down and tell you all about it…"

So Remus Lupin followed his snickering wife down to the kitchens wondering what his friend Padfoot had in store for him today…

* * *

Sirius Black stopped outside of a large building that was located at the end of one of the less populated areas of Hogsmeade. He was actually rather surprised that the residents of the area had allowed this place to hold its operations in their town, but then he also assumed that many people didn't even know it was there. The building was rather rundown with animated graffiti running up and down the outer walls and crumbling bricks making up the foundation.

Still, Sirius was optimistic about this opportunity. He knew that he would probably enjoy having a job in this place, seeing as he could help the sort of people that he had been helping since he was twelve years old. Remus was right. He was sure this would be the perfect place for him. Now all he had to do was convince them of that.

He stepped inside the building into a sort of waiting area with a desk at the front. A plump woman with blonde hair and unsightly long, red fingernails was sitting at it, arranging papers and sending owls with various memos throughout the office. When she spotted him she took a moment to look him up and down before smiling as she used the feather tip of her quill to tickle her chin.

"Are you here for the job interview?" she asked in an annoyingly high, would-be sultry voice.

Sirius squirmed slightly at the obvious advance in her tone, but immediately decided that he was going to have to do everything he could to get this job. Turning the old charm on, he gave her his most winning grin. "Why, yes. How extraordinary of you to figure that out so quickly, Ms.?…"

"Doris, please," she squealed excitedly.

Sirius walked forward and leaned on her desk. "Doris… what a lovely name. Quite fit for such a lovely woman…"

Doris giggled, twirling a chunk of hair around her index finger. She glanced back regretfully. "He should be ready to see you now. Go straight back to the first office on the left."

Sirius winked. "Thank you, love."

He heard Doris giggle once more as he walked behind her desk and down a hall, shaking off the unsettling feeling it had given him to be flirting with such a creature. _How low I have come…_

Coming to the first office on the left, he gave a knock on the door and waited. On the other side he heard shouting and the distinctive echo of someone else speaking on the other end of a floo fireplace conversation. The yelling ended, and he heard the same gruff voice call, "Come in!" Upon entering the room, he found a rather severe looking old man with snowy white hair, a droopy mouth, and beady dark eyes sitting at a small desk piled high with stacks of papers. The old man stared at Sirius for several seconds before asking sharply, "What are you here for?"

Sirius straightened up as best he could. "The job opening," he said politely.

The old man's eyes widened a bit as if had just been reminded of something. "Oh, yes," he grumbled, standing up from his desk and holding out a wrinkled hand for Sirius to shake. "Sit down and we'll have a chat. Do you have a resume?"

"Yes," Sirius replied, opening his satchel and pulling out a piece of parchment, which he handed to the man.

The old man squinted at the paper for about a minute before finally looking up at Sirius and staring at him carefully. "So… why do you think you'd like to work here?"

Sirius cleared his throat coming out with his fully prepared answer that he'd gone over in his head at least a dozen times that morning. "I know that I can help these people. I can understand what they're going to through. I've witnessed it first hand and I know what it's like to be considered a monster when you haven't done anything wrong. I want to be able to change the lives of these people who are so unfortunately misunderstood. I want to make a difference."

The old man stared blankly for a moment. Then he slowly smiled. "You're good."

Sirius blinked twice. There was no fooling this guy. He relaxed a bit and smiled back.

The old man leaned back in his chair and picked up another piece of parchment on his desk. "I got this letter from Remus Lupin the other day. He says that you're a friend of his, that you helped him through hard times in his life, and that you're very understanding to people in situations like his. I trust Remus, he's a good man, and he's made this organization look good with how well he's done for himself." He put down Remus' letter and looked back up at Sirius. "I'm Mr. Codger. And let's get one thing straight right now – I don't put up with any horseshit. So don't try your righteous and mighty act on me. If you want to work here I just want to make sure that you're honest and that you work well with scared and lonely people."

Sirius nodded resolutely. "I am and I do."

Mr. Codger folded his hands across his stomach. "All of my employees who work in the field work with partners. I find that it's easier for our clients when they are in contact with more then one person, that way they're more liable to trust lots of people. It makes them less paranoid. That's means that you have to be good at working with others. We don't need any hotshots here trying to be humanitarian of the year."

Again Sirius nodded. "I understand."

Mr. Codger looked him in the eye for a good long while, seeming to be trying to make up his mind about him. "All right, you're hired. I've been needing to fill a position anyway, since one of our top men retired."

Sirius' eyes widened. "Really? I've got the job?"

Mr. Codger nodded and stood up. "Yeah, you've got it. I'll show you to your workspace and let you meet your partner. You better not let me down, Black."

Sirius got up and followed Mr. Codger out of the office and further down the hall. "Certainly not, Mr. Codger. You can count on me."

Mr. Codger grunted, but didn't say another word until they reached a sort of cubicle space with one empty desk that had a partition in front of it, so that the space was divided into two separate work areas. Sirius could hear someone working on the other side, a quill scratching on parchment. Mr. Codger motioned Sirius inside. "Meet your new partner."

From the other side of the partition Sirius heard an oddly familiar voice. "Oh, good you finally found one, Codger. I was beginning to think-"

But the voice stopped short as soon as a body emerged from behind the partition. A pair of long legs accompanied by a slender frame with a thin, elegant face, dark brown hair, and lavender eyes. Sirius felt a shot run up his spine. The purple eyes focused on him and hardened.

"Guinevere Carnahan meet Sirius Black."

"We've met," came the suddenly steely female voice.

"Really? Well, then-"

"Codger, you can't hire him."

Sirius flashed her a vicious grin. "Ah, my dear Guinevere." He watched in glee as she winced at the old pet name mockery that he had developed for her so many years ago. "I see you haven't lost any of the poison and ice coldness that came between us in our childhood. It's so comforting to know that some things never change."

The dark-haired woman sneered at him. "I wish I could say the same for you. But then, comforting is never a word that I would associate with you. I would probably use licentious… to a fault."

Sirius folded his arms across his chest. "How like a Ravenclaw to use big words when you can't think of decent comeback."

Guinevere placed her hands on her hips. "And how like a Gryffindor to never have a wide enough vocabulary to know when you've just been insulted."

Mr. Codger cleared his throat and stepped between them. "Look, I don't know whatever bad blood you've got between the two of you, but you're going to have to get over it. We haven't had any other respectable applicants, Gwen, and you need a partner. You're just going to have to work things out between yourselves so you can work together. Understood?"

Guinevere looked at the floor. "Yes."

Mr. Codger turned to Sirius. "And you?"

Sirius nodded.

Mr. Codger sighed. "Good. Now, Gwen, you start showing Black here the ropes. I expect you two to be ready to work on your first case in a few days."

"All right," said Guinevere reluctantly.

Mr. Codger shook his head and left the room.

Guinevere eyed Sirius loathingly. "I suppose Remus Lupin is responsible for you getting this job."

Sirius scowled at her. "Because, of course, it would be impossible for me to accomplish anything by myself, right?"

"You never did when we were younger." When he didn't react to her comment, she pressed further. "Come on, this is never anyone's first choice for an occupation. Especially someone as erratic and self-absorbed as you are. What's the matter? People think you're damaged goods from all that time in Azkaban?"

She immediately saw the change come over his face. His face darkened and his body became stiff and rigid. Then he gave her a look that quite effectively communicated how heartless he believed her to be at that moment. It was strange that with how much disliked the man, she always found herself able to read his eyes so easily. She felt bad, but what was she supposed to do? He knew that he brought out a horrible side of her. Whenever he was near she always found herself behaving in a cruel way that wasn't her at all. He was just infuriating to her, even his presence. He had been gone for so long, and she had attained some peace at knowing that she wouldn't have to put up with him anymore. But naturally, life never seemed to enjoy dealing her the easy hand.

She sighed. "I'm sorry," she said grudgingly. "That was uncalled for. I suppose I should let you get settled. If you have any questions let me know. I'll start showing you around tomorrow, okay?"

Sirius nodded to her, still not fully recovered from her unexpected blow. He suddenly had a horrible sense of déjà vu from so many years ago. _What's wrong with me? We're both adults now, and we haven't seen each other in years, yet whenever I see people that I used to know when I was younger I automatically fall back into the routines that I was used to with them. Am I really that unchangeable?_

Sirius sat down at the desk in front of him and started to examine the contents of it, which were empty, so it made little difference. Since Guinevere did not make any effort to talk to him again, he spent the rest of the day staring at the partition in deep thought.

* * *

Sirius decided that he didn't feel up to going back to Hogwarts after finishing his first day of work. He could just imagine the looks on Remus and Ivy's faces when he told them about his new job and partner. So instead he went to the Three Broomsticks hoping to drown his anger in alcohol and complain to a familiar face.

As he stepped into the crowded pub he was greeted by the smell of drink, floo powder, and late summer cooking. Looking across the room, he spotted the bar and a friendly looking bartender with black hair serving two old men. Sirius sauntered over importantly and sat down heavily on the nearest barstool. The noise he made grabbed the attention of the bartender, who glanced at Sirius briefly before rolling his eyes and strolling slowly over to take his order.

"Well, don't look so happy about my being here, or anything," Sirius said. "Will you hurry up and get over here, or are you the slowest teenager known to man?"

The brilliant green eyes sparkled at him from behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. "What do you want, Sirius?" Harry asked.

Sirius pretended to be insulted. "Is that any way to treat a loving godfather who is coming to check up on his favorite godson? – pour me a double firewhiskey while your at it, that's good lad – Well, is it? I just came down to make sure that everything was working out for you all right, that you were being treated well, and I get this nice, enthusiastic greeting? Well, there's gratitude for you…"

Harry set a glass of firewhiskey down in front of Sirius. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Sirius blinked at Harry for a moment. Then he smiled. "You're going to be a damn good bartender with instincts like that."

Harry shrugged.

Sirius took a gulp of firewhiskey, feeling the familiar burn spread through his throat and down into his stomach. He was going to need something to dampen his nerves before recapping the day's events. Heaving a great sigh, he set the glass down, still keeping his fingers at the lip of it. "I got a job."

Harry's eyes brightened. "That's great, Sirius! Where?"

"The Dark Creatures Care and Crisis Center. It's a place that takes care of werewolves, and vampires, and the like, to make sure that they have a place to go when they're threatened or help them in finding jobs. Other things like that."

"Well, that sounds like a perfect job for you. After being friends with Remus for so long, you're a perfect candidate for that sort of thing. And you'll be helping lots of people."

Sirius stopped him before he could go any further. "There's a problem."

Harry frowned. "What, they're not treating you well because of your record?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Then what?"

Sirius lifted his glass to his lips and took a long swallow. "Guinevere Carnahan."

"Who?"

"Guinevere Carnahan. She's my partner at the place. We… well… we have a history, you might say…"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What, is she some random woman you shagged after a party one night, who now resents you for making her think that you cared?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the young man. "Watch it, cowlick boy. I'm alarmed that you would be so horribly presumptuous about the kind of person I was at your age. Besides…" He smirked briefly and sipped at his whiskey again before speaking his thoughts. "I wouldn't shag that woman if I were the last man on earth."

"Why, is she old and unbearably hideous?"

"God no, she's gorgeous. Got these striking violet eyes. Hell, if she were to put a little makeup on now and then, try a push up bra, and change the trousers for a short skirt to show off those fantastic long legs of hers, she would be every man's fantasy. They would fall at her feet."

"So what's wrong with her?"

Sirius' nostrils flared as they commonly did when people offended him. "Oh, she's a bossy, arrogant, conceited, rude, patronizing, stubborn, self-important, know-it-all Ravenclaw. She went to school with Remus and Ivy, and your mum and dad, and me."

Harry flicked his wand and a hand towel on the bar started cleaning the dirty glasses in front of him. "So what could have happened between you and this woman in your school days to make you hate her so much?"

Sirius really didn't want to answer that question. No matter what response he gave, he always came out sounding like an idiot. "Well… we got into arguments a lot. Over really stupid things. You know, we're both really stubborn, so-"

"You?" Harry exclaimed sarcastically, clapping a hand to his chest. "Stubborn? I never would have guessed!"

Sirius laughed. "Yes, me, stubborn. She was always telling me off, trying to stop me from getting a word in edgewise. I got her good a few times, but mostly, she had the last word. In many ways she was worse than Snape for me. I just sort of hated Snape unconditionally, and he was also more your father's enemy. Guinevere was my real nemesis."

Harry took another man's order a few seats down and then returned to his godfather. "Well, it sounds to me like you kept getting angry with her for being able to get one up on you all the time. That's understandable, I suppose."

"That's what really kept us enemies. After a while it seemed to me that she would insult and argue with me just for the sake of being right and making me look stupid. That's what made me hate her. I mean, I was no angel during that time, and I'm sure I did some selfish, rotten things, but I really wasn't as horrible as she was always making me out to be."

Harry nodded sympathetically. "And she's still hostile toward you after all this time?"

Sirius shook his head in dismay. "Yeah. We took one look at each other and went at it again. Totally at each other's throats, as usual. We didn't even try to be civil. It's actually quite ridiculous, I don't even know why we're fighting anymore."

"Why don't you just apologize?" Harry asked.

Sirius snorted. "She would never take that seriously. In her eyes I'm still seventeen years old and incapable of any genuine emotion."

. "I'm sure if you're nice to her for the next few weeks she'll come around. Just don't argue with her. Avoid any type of confrontation – if you don't feed a fire it'll die out eventually."

Sirius shrugged and stretched in his seat. "I'm sure you're right, but it won't be easy if she keeps baiting me." He thought for a moment before speaking again. "I've got to find a place to live next. I really can't afford to be at Hogwarts when the new school year starts up. I've been in their hair enough over there."

Harry's eyes widened as if Sirius had just reminded him of something. "I think I might have found a place for you to look at. I came across it when I was looking for a place for Ron and I to rent, but we thought the space was too small for two people. Want me to give you the address?"

In his mind, Sirius rolled his eyes. _He's only been out of school for a few months, and already he's taking care of me. It's supposed to be the other way around. Then again, James was always more competent than I was too. If he hadn't been, Harry wouldn't be here._

"That would be fantastic."

Rosmerta happened to be passing by the bar at that moment and Harry caught her attention. "Rosmerta, could I borrow your quill for a second?"

As she handed over the quill, Rosmerta happened to notice the man sitting at the bar. She smiled, an expression of mock disbelief on her face. "Sirius Black? No, it can't be you. You're far too grim to be Sirius Black, and he was never grim. Or dull for that matter."

Sirius glared good-naturedly at the woman, registering in his mind that it had been over sixteen years since he last saw her. "Yes, Rosmerta, it's me. Just a bit worse for wear."

The same cheerful woman he'd known as a teenager, give or take a few gray hairs that he didn't remember, winked jovially at him. "Well, you better start turning that good old bravado on, love, or I'll never serve you again."

Sirius finally cracked a grin and winked back. "Will do, dear."

Harry had finished scribbling the address on a scrap of parchment and handed Rosmerta back her quill, letting her move on to her other patrons. "Here's the address," Harry said, giving the parchment to his godfather. "Just go to the building right next door to it. The sellers live there."

A half a dozen new customers came in and started heading for the bar. Harry began preparing glasses, giving Sirius one last glance. "Keep me posted, all right?"

"Right, thanks," Sirius said as Harry walked over to the new customers. Taking one last sip of firewhiskey, he left a few sickles on the bar, and left.

* * *

Remus was sitting in his office going over the new list of first years that would be coming to the school in a few weeks, when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he called.

A brown head of hair poked inside, followed by a body. The young man looked meekly but determinedly at Professor Lupin. He had a very important question to ask.

Remus' eyes brightened when he looked up and saw his visitor. "Neville! It's good to see you. How are you doing?"

Neville quietly closed the door behind him as he spoke. "Oh, I'm doing fine. I've been working all summer same as everyone else, I suppose."

Remus nodded as he sorted paper piles on his desk. "And where have you been working, now that you've brought it up? No one's told me."

A small smile appeared at the corners of Neville's mouth. "Fred and George Weasley's joke shop."

Remus gaped at him momentarily. "Dear God!" he exclaimed. "Are you all right? They must be trying every new product they come up with on you!"

Neville laughed. "Only some of them. When they showed me the Intestines Twisters I drew the line."

Remus chuckled. "That would seem to be a smart move. So what can I do for you?"

Neville's smile disappeared. He stared nervously at Remus' desk. "I was wondering if you could write me a letter of recommendation for the Ministry."

Remus blinked briefly. That was the last thing he had expected. "Of course, I'd be glad to. May I ask for what department?"

Neville took a deep breath and Remus could see that he was gathering all of his courage. He looked his former professor straight in the eye.

"I'm going to train to be an Auror."

Remus' eyes widened.

Neville looked down at the sight of Professor Lupin's face. "You don't think I can do it…"

Remus stood up immediately from his desk and walked over to him. He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. It was so hard for him to keep reminding himself that that's what Neville was. A young man. Only a few years before he had met a boy, mousy and frightened of everything, who would have flinched just now if Remus had placed a hand on his shoulder. But this boy had grown up, had shown bravery and valor in situations of certain death. In many ways, Remus admired him more than anyone he'd ever known.

The young man looked up at his former professor.

"Neville," Remus said quietly, "I know you can do it. Just promise me that when you do," Neville smiled at his use of 'when' instead of 'if' as Remus continued, "you'll tell me when the graduation ceremony takes place. I want to be there."

Neville smiled. Not one of his usual cautious smiles, but a real smile. His eyes were bright as stars. "Thank you, Professor Lupin," he said, extending a hand to shake.

Remus shook his hand and nodded. Neville took that as his cue to leave, and strode out of the office with new authority in his step.

Remus sighed and sat back down at his desk, continuing to pour over his papers until Ivy came in about an hour later.

"You'll never guess who came to see me today," said Remus, standing up and walking over to where Ivy stood looking through his bookshelves.

"Who?" Ivy asked, turning her head away from the book spines and giving him her full attention.

"Neville."

"What did he come to see you for?"

Remus glanced out the window briefly. "He wanted a letter of recommendation for the Ministry."

Ivy gave him a puzzled stare. "For what?"

"He's going to become an Auror."

Ivy's jaw dropped. "Really? That's what he wants to do?"

Remus nodded. "He's quite determined about it."

Ivy closed her mouth and walked to the window. Remus could see her shoulders tensing and knew she was getting upset. He walked over to her. "What's wrong? You should be happy for him."

Ivy turned back to face him. Her lips were pursed in a thin line and her brow was furrowed. She was near to tears. "Every time I think about that boy, I think about his parents and what happened to them." Tears started rolling down her cheeks without warning. "Now he's going to be doing the same things that they were. I just.… I get so scared for them after all the things that have happened. They've all seen too much already, and-"

Ivy was unable to continue speaking. She buried her face in one hand and wrapped her other arm around herself as if that could shield her from the world. Remus stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay," he said in a soothing voice. He let his hands rub her back gently as he whispered in her ear. "You know, I think that one of the reasons that Neville wants to do this is because of his parents. And if he feels right about it, then it's probably the best thing for him. It's not as if he's doing it to get revenge. You should be proud of him."

Ivy leaned back slightly and started wiping the tears from her face. "I am proud of him. I just feel like they've all had such little time to be young. I mean, even though Voldemort was coming into power while we were in school we still had childhoods. They had their childhoods stolen from them."

"You can't look at it that way, Ivy. They all have wonderful lives ahead of them. They're all going to be okay."

"I know, I know," Ivy said in between sniffles. "It just really hits me every once and a while. I'm really glad for him, though. I can't think of anyone better from that group to become an Auror."

"I should let Kingsley and Tonks know," Remus thought out loud.

Ivy nodded. "Yeah, you should. They'll show him the ropes and everything, look out for him."

Remus paused. "Now, what was it you came in for?"

Ivy looked back to the bookcase. "I think I needed one of your books, but I can't remember which one. Mostly, I just came in to bother you. Are you going to come upstairs soon?"

Remus nodded. "Yes, I'll be up in a minute. I just have few more things to look over. Oh, and by the way," he said, suddenly remembering the letter he had received a few hours ago. "The Starlight Canyon School sent us another letter. They said they're looking forward to sending their man over here, and they're sure that he'll be learning from the best."

Ivy rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Right… the best…"

* * *

It was early in the morning when Codger poked his head into Sirius and Guinevere's partitioned cubicle.

"Carnahan, in my office! I've got an assignment for you and your partner, but you'll get the debriefing without him this time around, so you'll have to relay the information to him."

As Sirius watched Guinevere stalk angrily by him and down the hall, he had to admire his employer. _He's trying to find ways to force us to communicate. Good way to build a working partnership. If she'll talk to me, that is._

A few minutes later Guinevere appeared at entrance to their workspace. "Let's go, Black, on your feet. We're Apparating to the location of our assignment."

Sirius stood up. "Okay, but I don't know where-"

He was stopped short when Guinevere grabbed him roughly by his upper arm and he felt the sudden lurch associated with apparation. In a few moments Sirius found himself in front of a simple, but pretty looking cottage which stood in the middle of a lovely street lined with similar dwellings. Sirius turned to Guinevere who seemed distracted by the surroundings, her sharp violet eyes taking in every feature of the cottage, every lawn that lined the street.

"Is this where our assignment is?" Sirius asked.

She ignored him, now studying the windows of the cottage, seeming to hesitate in their approach.

Sirius spoke louder this time. "Guinevere? Earth to Guinevere…"

She snapped her head back to him angrily. "What?"

Sirius cleared his throat and looked down pointedly. Guinevere followed his gaze to Sirius' upper arm. She was still holding it tightly. "Oh," she mumbled as she abruptly let go of him. She watched as he nodded once and gave her a tense smile to show his thanks.

"So what are we doing here?" he asked, his eyes squinting as he surveyed the quaint little house.

Guinevere rolled her eyes, knowing that he would not like what she had to say next. "Listen… why don't you just stay here? I'll take care of this, I can handle it on my own. Without your help."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Codger said that you were supposed to tell me the situation after he had briefed you…"

"I know, but he doesn't have to know." Guinevere watched him keenly for a response, hoping he would jump at her offer. "Think of it this way, Black: you stay out of my way, let me do my job, and you'll get paid for nothing. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?"

She was certain he'd take her up on it. _He's Sirius Black, for God's sake – the boy who'd aced all his classes without ever doing a lick of homework. Surely he'll jump at the chance to take the easy way out._ To her surprise, however, his eyes narrowed at her in a look of confusion and disbelief.

"Why?"

Guinevere gave a sigh that sounded like a groan. "Look, I don't have time for this. Just let me go in there and do my job, and things will work out fine between us, okay? You just stay out here and wait for me to come back."

She paused for a moment, waiting for his reaction. After a few long seconds, a strained smile appeared on Sirius' lips. A smile that did not match the disdain in his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say. I'll just sit out here like some deranged, pathetic house-elf." Guinevere tried to interrupt him, but he smiled wider and stopped her before she had the chance to redeem herself. "Just let me know when you're finished. I'll be right here."

Guinevere opened and closed her mouth a few times ever so slightly. She didn't know what to say. Finally, she turned away from him and walked to the front door of the cottage. A man let her inside, and Sirius watched her from where he was leaning against the fence, trying to figure out how he was going to survive this new aspect of his life.

* * *

A few hours later, Guinevere emerged from the cottage and was surprised to find Sirius standing right where she had left him. He was staring down the street at some young children playing with a large bouncing ball, a genuine smile now on his face. When she approached he didn't look at her, though she was sure he knew she was there.

"I thought you'd have gone home by now," she said quietly.

Now Sirius turned his head back to look at her, his eyes dark, his smile suddenly absent. "And _why_ would you have thought that?"

Guinevere shrugged weakly. After a few moments she sighed and shook her head. "Look, Black, I think we both went about this all wrong-"

"Oh, really?" Sirius said mockingly. "Because I was under the impression that you were the only one who told me not to do my job."

Guinevere looked up to the sky briefly as if searching it for what she wanted to say. Sirius was surprised to find the features of her face soften, making her suddenly seem far more human then she ever had to him. "Okay, I handled that wrong. I'm just not real thrilled to have a new partner. I got along well with my last one, and to suddenly have you coming in here, I… I'm just not used to the idea yet. We've never exactly gotten along, and I don't like being cornered into dealing with people."

Sirius turned to her solemnly, and she suddenly knew that anything he said to her would be the truth, not one of those famous Sirius Black/James Potter elaborations that she had been used to from their childhood. "Well, I'm willing to make the effort if you are. I consider this work to be very important, in case you were wondering."

He sighed, a lingering kind of wear suddenly showing on his face that Guinevere couldn't identify. "And I'm tired of dealing with people like this. Relationships based off of assumptions. I probably don't know you as well as I think I do, and I'm sure you don't know me at all if you thought I'd just be content sitting around and getting a free paycheck, while you did all the work." He held out his hand. "Can we start over? At least from the time I walked into your office a few days ago?"

Guinevere stared him in the face for a few moments. A few moments too long, really. Shaking herself from their locked gaze, so that he wouldn't think she was staring, Guinevere took the hand he offered and shook it. He nodded to her, a nod of mutual respect, which she returned. She still didn't like the man, but she wouldn't hate him anymore.

And they would just have to build off of that.

* * *

Remus dropped a wooden box filled with books onto a table in Sirius' new sitting room. Sirius had apparently found the place by way of his godson and had managed to close the deal in just a few days. He was very lucky because the old couple selling the flat happened to be fairly senile, and didn't seem to know anything about Sirius Black the ex-convict.

So Sirius had found a job on Monday and was now moving into a new home on Saturday. Remus was very happy for him, and had offered to help him move in, which was an offer that Sirius could not refuse.

"Do you want your books in here?"

"Yeah, just leave them there. I don't appear to have any bookshelves at the moment, but I saw some wooden planks out back that someone threw away, and I'm sure I'll be able to use them."

Remus paused for a moment, then leaned to the left trying to catch a glimpse of Sirius, who was bustling about kitchen. "You're going to make your bookshelves? Sirius, do you really think that wise?"

Sirius strode back into the sitting room and planted his feet on the ground before folding his arms across his chest. "Why? Are you insinuating that you don't think I can do it? I'll have you know that I am remarkably handy with a wand. Where do you think most of the furniture for James and my first flat came from? It's not like we had any money to buy it."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "You made the furniture for that flat?"

Sirius grinned and nodded proudly.

Remus smirked and started looking through the books in the box. "No wonder it was so uncomfortable," he mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that."

Remus spread his hands submissively. "All I'm saying is it's a good thing that this place came with most of the furniture. We'd never come visit you, otherwise."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh no, you're doing it."

"Doing what?"

"The same thing James did. The 'we' thing. After you get married everything becomes 'we' and never 'I'."

"You're just jealous because I'm married to the woman of my dreams. And you'll never find that person because the woman of your dreams is a different woman every night."

"I resent that!"

Remus shrugged. "By the way, she's coming over later on. She had some 'important headmistress duties' to take care of, but she wants to make sure that she helps you out. And I think she's bringing by a house-warming gift."

"Honestly, Moony, you're really going to get tired of your wife always being more busy than you are."

"Yes, I'm sure I will, but what am I supposed to do about it? You said it yourself, she couldn't turn down the job. She's meant to do it. And I'm certainly not going to divorce her over it. It's just one of those things that people have to get through."

"Well, don't forget, you can always drop by and bother me of you ever feel lonely."

Remus pretended to open up one of Sirius books and skim over the content. "And you mustn't forget not to be insulted when I don't take you up on that offer."

"Ha ha. Now seriously Remus, you might want to come over and keep me company for _my_ sake. You are one of the reasons that I have the job from hell."

Remus glanced up at the ceiling, the telltale Marauder glint in his eye. "Don't know what you're talking about…"

Sirius cocked his head to one side. "Oh please! You both knew that she worked there, and don't bother pretending that you didn't. I still can't believe you didn't warn me."

Remus sat down in the nearest chair. "To be fair, I didn't know until it was too late. Neither did Ivy, because I didn't tell her you had an interview there before it was too late."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. From the other side a female voice called, "Housewarming Committee!"

Sirius pointed to the door curiously and looked at Remus. "Ivy?"

Remus immediately shook his head, knowing his wife's tone and pitch too well. "No, not her voice."

Sirius shrugged, walked to the door, and opened it. As the door swung the person on the other side began to ramble immediately. "Hi, I'm your upstairs neighbor and I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm sorry I didn't bring you a gift or anything, but I just found out about you moving in today, and I-"

The voice stopped short as the figure in the doorway finally turned her head and saw who was standing in front of her. The violet eyes flared.

"You! What are you doing here?"

Sirius blanched momentarily, clearly trying hard to register what he was seeing. "I live here, thank you," he said slowly.

Guinevere clapped a hand to her mouth, and her eyes became, if it were possible, even larger. Her voice gained a frantic tone and she stepped back from the door. "No! This has got to be some sort of nightmare! I mean, you can't do this to me, you just can't! You've left me alone for sixteen years and now you're just… _everywhere_!"

Sirius' eyes narrowed and he leaned against the door. "Well, nice to meet you too, neighbor. I'd invite you in for a drink, but you don't seem-" He paused, seeing Remus out of the corner of his eye trying to make his way quietly to the kitchen without being noticed. "Don't you dare move!" Sirius said in a dangerous tone before turning back to Guinevere. "…Forgive me - you don't seem quite in the hospitable mood you were in a few seconds ago. So, if that's all, I'll bid you good day."

But before Sirius could close the door, Guinevere held out a hand to stop it. "Wait!" She let Sirius open the door again, and sighed before speaking. "I'm sorry, that was unbelievably rude of me."

Sirius scowled. "Really? I hadn't noticed. That seems to be the way you usually treat me, so I just figured that you were-"

"Oh, really now!" she interrupted. "The way I've been treating you doesn't even begin to compare to the way that you treated me when we were in school!"

"We were bloody kids!"

"Oh, of course, that makes up for everything! We were children, so it shouldn't matter! I'll have you know that the things you said and did made it very difficult -"

"For God's sake, are you going to blame me for everything that ever went wrong in your life now? You were no picnic yourself, in case you didn't remember, and-"

"That's right, I was no picnic, as you were constantly reminding me, and I never forgot it! You were so arrogant, so superior, the Great Sirius Black-"

"Arrogant? Superior? You're one to talk you swatty, anal, narrow-minded Ravenclaw wench-"

"-Stupid, pig-headed, self-centered Gryffindor cad-"

Both of them stopped and stared at each other, eyes ablaze with fury. This time they shouted in unison.

"_What did you call me?_"

At that moment Remus decided to clear his throat and interject. "Er, if I may-"

"Shut up, Remus!" they shouted.

For a moment they both stood catching their breath, realizing how out of hand they had let things get. Guinevere stared at her feet and spoke again, her voice now quiet and slightly hoarse.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started yelling, I overreacted."

"We both did," Sirius said apologetically.

Guinevere nodded. "Listen, let me make it up to you. Come have dinner up at my place on Friday after work. Hopefully we'll have both settled into this a bit by then."

"Sounds good. Can you cook?" Sirius quipped.

Guinevere gave a weak smile. "Yeah, a lot better than I clean, which is a good thing."

"All right, well, see you on Monday then."

Guinevere nodded and turned to go upstairs as Sirius shut the door. After it was closed he looked back at his friend.

Remus stared at the door in confusion. "Well, that went well, I suppose…"

The two men finished most of the unpacking and Sirius poured them both drinks, allowing them to settle down.

"So," Sirius started, his fingers tapping on the side of his glass, "who's this mystery man that I heard you've got coming over from the States?"

Remus shrugged. "Damned if I know. They just asked if he could come over and observe for the year. I figure it'll be good for Ivy. She can probably pass on some of her work to him as part of his training, and then she'll be less burdened. It's only her first year and I'm nervous about her taking on too much."

Sirius nodded, taking a sip from his glass. "Yeah, you're probably right. And she'll still be teaching someone, in a way. I'm sure she'll enjoy that too."

Remus was about to respond when he heard a knock at the door. "It's open!" Sirius shouted.

A few moments later Ivy was in the room surveying the surroundings. "Hm, what a quaint little bachelor pad you've got here, Sirius."

"So kind of you to join us, Little Sister."

As Sirius spoke, Ivy walked over to his chair and bent down to give him a peck on the cheek.

Sirius waved his glass at her. "Drink?"

"No thanks," was the response he received as Ivy crossed over to where Remus was sitting and gave him a swift kiss on the lips. She then straightened up and glanced around once more. "Well, you boys seem to have done just fine without my help. Any trouble?"

Sirius' eyes went wide and dark as he looked to the bottom of his glass. "Oh, there was all sorts of trouble…"

Ivy looked to Remus for an explanation and got one rather quickly. "Guinevere lives in the flat upstairs. She stopped by to welcome Sirius, not knowing that he was the one who had moved in."

"Ah," Ivy said delicately. "So there were some…?"

"Fireworks," Remus finished.

"To say the least," Sirius scoffed.

Ivy looked over at Sirius. "Couldn't you even _try_ being a little nice to her?"

"_Try?_" Sirius bellowed. "_Try?_ I don't think you quite understand the situation, my dear Little Sister. All I have to do is look at that woman and she bites my head off! I have tried my hardest to be understanding and patient, but it's quite obvious that she'd rather have my vital organs laid out on a platter for ritualistic display then have a civilized conversation with me!"

Ivy raised her eyebrows in hidden amusement, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "That bad, huh?"

In response, Sirius took a large gulp from his glass and set it down rather roughly on the table next to him.

Remus nodded to her. "That bad. I can personally vouch for him. What happened between them this evening was not at all pleasant to witness."

Ivy turned her gaze slyly back to Sirius. "Well, I think I might have just the thing to cheer him up."

"Oh, what?" Sirius groaned disbelievingly.

"Come outside."

Sirius picked up his head from where it rested against the back of the chair. "For what?"

Ivy flashed her quirky smile. "For your housewarming gift…"

Remus and Ivy glanced secretively at each other for a moment before Remus stood and walked with Ivy to the door.

"What are you two up to?" Sirius asked in a scolding tone.

"You'll see," Ivy said as she walked out the door.

Sirius had no choice but to follow, still as much a slave to his curiosity as he had been when they were young. Out in front of the flat there was an extremely large object covered with a heavy tarp. Ivy grabbed the edge of it and turned to face Sirius.

"You must promise not to do anything too dangerous. We went through great lengths to get this back and a lot of restoration was required by us and Hagrid and Harry. We were going to wait till your birthday, but I told them that you probably needed it now and they agreed."

Ivy suddenly yanked off the tarp with surprising ease to reveal…

Sirius' baby.

The black motorbike glinted in the evening light, and Sirius knew without a doubt that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He walked up to it hesitantly and placing one hand carefully on the handlebar. He thought he might faint. The bike was gorgeous, in perfect condition, and now she was sixteen years more a classic.

"She flies too, Sirius," Remus said from behind him, seeming to know what his friend was thinking.

"This must have taken you ages," he whispered.

Ivy smiled. "Well, with all of us working on it, it took about five months. We've been restoring it since you were pardoned."

"Hagrid had it all this time?"

"No, not quite. After he brought Harry to the Dursley's he didn't need it anymore, so he gave it to Albus to put away. When we asked him for it, it took Albus a long time to figure out where he had put it in the castle, but he eventually remembered and gave it to us. We kept it in the same place where Hagrid had kept Buckbeak."

Sirius' eyes lit up at the name. "Did you hear about Buckbeak? He's allowed to come back to Hogwarts! After all everything that happened with the Malfoy family and Draco's supervision at St. Mungo's, Hagrid petitioned his case, telling them that I had taken Buckbeak to Romania when I escaped, and now they're letting him come back."

"Oh, that's wonderful news!" Ivy exclaimed.

"Yes," Remus said lightly. "Maybe he'll start focusing on positive things now. He's much more pleasant when he's not feeling sorry for himself."

"Oh, bugger off, Moony," Sirius mumbled.

Ivy nudged him. "Come on, are you actually to ride this thing, or are you just going to stand there touching it?"

Sirius looked down at the blue t-shirt and khakis he had on. "I'm not dressed for it."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Do you really care?"

Sirius thought for a moment, a long-absent twinkle appearing in his eyes.

"No."

He swung his left leg over the seat, turned the key, and revved the engine. Ivy laughed in excitement as she watched Sirius. His eyes closed while he felt his senses retune to the machine.

Guinevere, hearing the noise from inside her flat, opened her window at the front and stuck her head out to see what the commotion was. Seeing her new partner, her arch nemesis, on his legendary motorbike, she felt compelled to shout down to him.

"Will you give me no _peace_?"

Sirius glanced up at the woman looking down on him from above. Nothing she could say could possibly bother him now. His state of mind completely altered whenever he heard that engine hum. Instead of dignifying her with an answer, he gave her a roguish grin and a playful wink.

Guinevere quickly pulled her head back inside and slammed the window shut. Sirius felt that his mindless flirting had served him well, seeing that she had disappeared. Had he looked just a split second longer, however, in the moment before she had pulled back into the security of her four walls, he might have been interested to note the sudden flush that had appeared in her cheeks.

"I suppose we'll be needing to get him a leather jacket for his birthday, then," said Remus, as he turned to Ivy.

"Don't count on it," said Sirius. "I'm going to need the jacket much sooner than my birthday. I'll probably have it by the middle of next week. Hard to ride without one. But I will make an exception tonight…"

"Tata," Remus chimed.

Ivy gave a small wave.

Sirius grinned at both of them and took off, racing down the street before letting the bike travel high into the sky, and disappearing into the night.

* * *

Well? Do you like? I hope so! There will be a flashback in the next chapter! And you will get to see Ron and Hermione! Will Sirius get his leather jacket? And you will get to meet the mystery man... Muahahaha... ;) Let me know if you liked it :)


	2. Dislike, Leather, and Dinner

**A/N: PLEASE READ! **

I am so sorry you guys! I feel really terrible, but the delay for this chapter couldn't be avoided. You see after high school graduation you think you get loads of time to do whatever you want, but no, you get visits from relatives and lots of time spent getting stuff for dorms and spend time with your parents, who are already missing you even though you're still there! Anyway, I'm back. This chapter actually took a while to write as well because I didn't outline this story the same way I outlined Echoes (which was by chapter and very efficient). Now I realize that the Echoes way worked better and I am at this moment changing the outline so I won't have that problem anymore. After all, that's what this all is about, right? Figuring out what works so I get better at this! Yea!

This will probably be harder once I get into college, but I promise all of you that I will never give up on this story. My mind wouldn't allow it because it's all there waiting to be put on a page. So while it may take some time, I promise you all that this story will get finished, and that I will never settle for anything less than the quality that you're used to. Even my lovely beta-readers, who are going to college in two different states, have promised to beta for me amidst their own busy schedules. They're just as dedicated as I am! So don't give up, even if the chapter takes a while. It will come, I promise!

**IMPORTANT QUESTION – ALL READERS SHOULD LOOK AT THIS!** This story was written mostly before book 5 came out, which is why it's so AU now. Most of it doesn't bother me, but one part does – Sirius' family. I wrote them very differently, and now I think that I should remedy that, because it gives Sirius more depth as a character and would add interesting levels to this story. Since I only mentioned his family once in Echoes it would be very easy to fix. If you guys don't mind, I will delete the one paragraph about Sirius' family in Echoes, and in this story his family will be portrayed the way they are in OotP. What do you guys think?

**ALSO**, many of you have commented on my choice for Harry's occupation. I understand everyone's concern, but remember it is customary for people to get in between jobs before professional training. And after defeating Voldemort, I have a funny feeling that Harry will want a break from dark wizards for a while. Don't forget, it was probably a very terrifying and taxing ordeal. I'm just giving him his due year to recover. Plus, it's funny!

**AND**, someone suggested that I put my response to your reviews at the end of the chapter, but most of you seem to like it when I put the responses first, and I agree. I will put review responses first as usual, so sift through, find the response to your review, and then find the chapter and read on!

**IMPORTANTLY**,This chapter will have some beta-ing problems as my computer has a virus that is affecting Microsoft Word, and messing up all of my italics and boldings and formating. I would take more time to fix it, but you guys have waited long enough for this chapter!

Bell: I knew you would be the first to review! I'm always so glad to have you as such an avid supporter! I'm happy that you think the story is moving well, and that you like the Sirius/Gwen interaction so far. It has been lots of fun to write them, and I think that people will enjoy it. As for the states man, lots of people thought that he would be related to Ivy or an old boyfriend, and that was a definite possibility in early brainstorming stages for the story (you guys are starting to know my style too well (), but it didn't work in the end. However, I think you'll find him… interesting… Yea! You like Jekyll and Hyde! Isn't it great? When I heard the songs I fell in love immediately. I'm glad you like it too. Now read on and enjoy!

anubis04: Thank you so much for your review and comments! I hope you like the flashback in this chapter (and the rest of it, of course). Read and have fun!

Sirius-Ella: Yea! You liked the chapter… more importantly you like Sirius ;) Yes, we all want to pull him from the computer screen and keep him in a private closet somewhere. He's a special boy (though I am Remus girl, you can't resist Black – he's just that cool). I think you'll continue to like what's in store for our favorite canine… thanks a lot!

angelface58: Thank you so very much! I know what you mean about some the stories on here, but I'm glad that this isn't one of them, and I'm even gladder that you're enjoying the sequel because sequels are hard to get people to like. It makes me feel like I'm doing my job. Hope you like the chapter!

George is hot – MrsMoony: Of course I was expecting a review from you ;) I'm glad you loved it! Keep reading it should get even better!

Senna2: I'm so glad you liked it! As for Ivy being headmistress, she got the job because Albus died, remember? Then again, you might have been one of the readers who blocked it out (not that I'd blame you – I didn't like killing him). And I'm glad that you liked the motorbike (you're absolutely right, may they never be parted)… well, we all love the motorbike. So expect to see more of it in the future ;)

Chineselaquer: Well, as you can see from the author's note, this story will never be abandoned (yea! Angels calling!), so set your fears to rest! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I hope you like this chapter too!

whiteLillian2000: Thank you so much! I'm very flattered. I hope you continue to read the story and enjoy it!

Elrenia daughter of Elrohir: Thanks so much! Well, you didn't have to wait as long for this chapter, but it has been a while. I hope the wait is worth it!

pokie4389: Thanks a lot! I hope you like this chapter too!

Micky2: Thanks! There will be some married smut, but not all the time ;) I should get someone for Severus, shouldn't I? Alas, I feel unequal to the task. Maybe in another story. But one of your requests will be granted, in this chapter, in fact, so read and enjoy!

BlueFeather11: You have a happy dance too? Yea! I'm glad you like it so far. And you're right about the mystery man… he's gonna be trouble. Read and find out!

BookCrazee68: Thank you so much! I'm so happy that you like the sequel and I am totally impressed/flattered that you've read Echoes more than once. I'm glad that you like where Sirius and Gwen are going, they're fun ;) I hope that this chapter continues to please!

LOTRMoonyFanatic: I'm glad that I was able to provide you with a break – here's another one! I'm happy that you're enjoying Guinevere, I'm having fun with her, and it's nice to know that people like her. There's lots more from their pasts coming up, so read and enjoy!

Padfootluvr21: Thank you! I'm glad you'll be able to read this one as it goes too, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it! Thank our friend for me, for getting you to read Echoes!

Shiz: Hm, could your name possibly come from the name of a school in a recent musical ;) ? I'm glad that you're reading the sequel and hope that you enjoy it as much as Echoes. Thank you so much!

Ariandir: No need to apologize for reading Echoes in one sitting! I'm just flattered that you read it and are enjoying this one too. I think you'll like what's coming up (yes, there' definitely some potential for Sirius and Gwen… I think it'll be fun). And I'm honored that you like the way I write Snape – he's hard to write, so it's wonderful when someone tells me I'm doing it right. Yea, muffins and rum, two of my favorite things! Hope you like this chapter!

peipponen: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. You're right, some people make Remus way too old, I try to make him a bit younger because he is! But some people don't want to believe that… oh well. There's some Ron and Hermione I this chapter that I think you'll like ;) Who doesn't love Ron? He's precious! And don't worry about Sirius in leather… it will come… Read and enjoy!

Moni: Thank you so much! To answer your question, my favorite character is Remus with Sirius running a close second. That's why I write them so much ( . To answer the second question, there will be lots of Sirius in this one 'cause of he and Guinevere, but Remus plays a very large role in this story, probably as much as Echoes, now that I think about it. So worry not and read on!

HarryPotterFreak1234: Here are the review responses on top, just like you requested (I think you're right about that anyway, it's much easier)! I'm glad you like the story so far! There will be more Sirius in this one, but there will be plenty for Remus and Ivy, I promise. Lots of people thought that the mystery man would be an old boyfriend of Ivy's, but even though that was a possibility in my brainstorming, it just didn't work (but you knew me well enough to know I'd consider, which impresses me ;)). However, he is a jerk and Remus does get jealous – you'll love it. He is fun to write when he's all jealous… hehehe… Anyway, read and enjoy!

aurora13: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're liking the story. I hope you like this chapter too!

Maleena: I'm glad you're still reading even though the story's not canon. That normally bothers me too, but I had to stick with this story 'cause I love it too much even though it's completely AU now that Sirius is dead. Thanks for sticking with me, I'm glad that you like it so much! Hope you like this chapter too!

Werewolf-Luva: Glad you're back to read the sequel! Here's your update! I'm glad you enjoying the story!

Taym Godel: Thanks you so much for all your comments and support. You're one of the many people who predicted one of the many possibilities I had running around in my head about who the American would be. Sadly, those possibilities didn't work out, but he's slimy enough, I think. You'll have to be the judge ;) . Sorry your fic fell through, but I shall have to read some of your poetry (though I warn you, I'm not very good at understanding poetry – I wish I was, but my friend SadDiamonds, who actually one of my beta-readers, is the real poet)! Thanks a lot, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Muse-kun: I'm so glad that you like the story and think it matches up to Echoes well! There's something between Sirius and Guinevere, but you'll have to wait to find out. Then again, I don't Sirius would ever stop being a player, girlfriend or no – he's such a natural flirt (. Hope you like this chapter!

LonelyWolf: Thanks so much, I'm glad you like the humor. You actually pointed out some of my favorite parts in the chapter. I honestly don't know where it all comes from, but when I act I do mostly comedy, so it must have something to do with that… Anyway, the next chapter awaits you – I hope you like it!

Lijahlover: Wow, I'm so flattered, it's ridiculous! After reading your review for this story and Echoes, I think I might die from how flattered and humble I feel right now. Thank you so much! I hope you continue to like the story!

Lizzie Black: Thank you so much! I read all of my reviews, so it wouldn't matter where you left one, but I'm so glad that you reviewed. Yea, it was hard to kill Albus, but I had too. I get worried that JKR will do it sometimes, but I try not to think about it, I love Albus too much. Oh, I responded to the job thing with Harry in my author's note at the top of the page. You're not the only one who's worried for the poor fella, but don't worry – oh, and there's some Harry/Ginny coming up ;). I'll have to check out that fic you mentioned. Thanks again, and enjoy the next chapter!

sol: I'm sorry! Here's more! Here's more! Please, no beatings! I hope you like it (

gigglepot: Yes, I'm back (this should be up on checkmated as soon as they beta it… which could take a while, since it took them five months to put up the last chapter of Echoes). I'm glad that you're warming up to Sirius and Guinevere, I think they'll be fun. The arguing will continue ;). And there is a flashback in this chapter and fun Ron/Hermione stuff. Yeah, we all love Sirius in leather, don't we? How can we not? I hope you like this chapter too. Enjoy!

vamperfly: I'm so glad that you found my stories and that you're enjoying them! Here's the update. And you're right, Sirius and Gwen is going to be interesting ;) Hope you like this installment!

Kate The Chocoholic: YES, a sequel! Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter!

deathbycookie15: Yes, the bike! Doesn't that make you excited? It made me excited and I was the one writing it! This fic will be lots about Sirius, but Remus and Ivy still have lots to do too. It should be pretty well balanced. I'm glad you like Guinevere. I love the name too, and it works so well for her. And she will be good for Sirius… well maybe not at first, although conflict is eminent ;) I hope you like what's coming up!

Gemini ice 39: Thank you! I'm glad you like this story and Echoes, and I hope it continues to please!

aries: Here it is! Just for you! I hope you like it!

Jess Pallas: Thank you so much! I'm so flattered that you like my writing style and the way the characters are written! There's a chance of an update… now! So go and have fun in fanfic land!

Marine Aquastar: Well, now I have to read your story and review. You left a great review, and you flattered me far too much. I am bound by principle to read your story, which I'm sure is magnificent. Give me some time, and I promise I will read it. You actually brought up two subjects that lots of people brought up – Harry's job (which I talk about in the authors note at the tope of this page) and who the mystery man is going to be. While your prediction about him being an old boyfriend was an early possibility while I was brainstorming, it didn't work, so he doesn't know Ivy – but that was a great guess, since it almost happened, and you still won't like him very much (neither does Remus, as you'll soon see). Of course they'll be all right in the end – it's Remus and Ivy! I hope you like this chapter and that you'll let me know what you think of it! Thanks again!

melipy: I'm glad you came over and found me! And I'm glad you like the story. It's being beta-d at checkmated as we speak, they just take a really long time to beta things nowadays. You're actually one of lots of people who were concerned about Harry's job, but there's a section in the author's note of this chapter that should explain things. Why didn't Hermione move in with Ron and Harry – 'cause that would suck for Harry! Besides, Ron will probably be moving out soon anyway ;) Read and find out! I hope you like it!

Without further ado…

* * *

**_Chapter Two – Dislike, Leather, and Dinner _**

**THEN** – Marauder First Year

It was only his second week of school and Sirius was already having a hard time keeping focused during class. He enjoyed spending time with his new friends so much that it was difficult to stop himself from talking or sending some sort of message during lessons. Already he had figured out how to get erasable messages to move from his own parchment to another's, which had been a source of amusement for him and James all through Transfiguration class. Word was spreading quickly among the teachers that Potter and Black were going to be trouble.

Word had spread among the students as well. All the first years already knew who they were because of the rather nasty trick that they had played on a boy named Snape on the train ride to the school. Neither James nor Sirius had known who the boy was, but James had heard things about the boy's family from his father and Sirius figured he had gotten what was coming to him on the train. It hadn't been nice of him to make fun of that boy Remus for having tattered clothing, nor was it right for Snape's friend to knock that Peter kid on the floor simply because he was small and couldn't defend himself.

So Sirius and James had felt it was their responsibility to help the boys by getting back at Snape and his friend. All they did was make them grow long white beards and give their robes pink polka dots…

It had alarmed Sirius at the time how similarly he and James thought even though they had only known each other for a few hours. It seemed inevitable that they would be great friends. And on top of his first growing friendship, the incident on the train had given him and James two new friends who both, much to Sirius' delight, seemed to have a head for mischief as well (although the boy Remus would never admit it, and the Peter kid was a bit slow on the uptake).

He and James had been assigned detention on their first day of school for what had happened on the train. Sirius didn't mind at all, especially when he caught the smile on Headmaster Dumbledore's face as the two bearded boys trudged up to be sorted.

So now he was sitting in Potions class waiting to be partnered with someone from Ravenclaw house since the potions master had insisted that they work with children outside their 'comfort zone'. The old master shouted from his desk across the room.

"Black, you'll be working with Carnahan! Snap to it!"

Sirius was about to ask who that was, when a pretty dark haired girl approached his table with her supplies in hand. Of course, Sirius didn't happen to notice that the girl was pretty at the time, since he was not very interested in girls at that point in his life. If anything, she made him feel very uncomfortable.

The girl began speaking. "Well, I suppose that we're partners for the rest of the year in this class. I'm Guinevere Carnahan, what's your name?"

"Sirius Black."

"Oh, after the star," the girl said in an impassive voice.

"Yes, I suppose," Sirius mumbled while staring at the girl strangely.

Guinevere could see that the boy was not impressed with her usual show of intelligence, which disheartened her, but didn't really surprise her. So far all of the Gryffindors she had met were a bit lacking in the brain department. Not that it was quite fair for her to make that judgment, seeing as she had taught herself to read at the age of three.

Sirius and Guinevere began to work on their potion, a pixie repellant that would be used later in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. As the period went on, Guinevere found herself becoming more and more annoyed with Sirius Black. He spent most of his time joking with James Potter, who was the next table over. Frankly, she would have much rather worked with their friend Remus Lupin. At least that boy had the decency to do his work despite how often Sirius and James tried to distract him. He also seemed to be more intelligent than the two of them. If Sirius and James had any aptitude between them, they seemed determined to hide it behind the personas of two class clowns.

Sirius realized quickly that he was not going to be fond of Guinevere Carnahan. He had never been able to abide people who acted like they knew everything. Even though it was clear that the girl was considerably smart, he was not one to appreciate a showoff unless he felt that it was all in good fun. Guinevere, however, always seemed to be trying to prove herself to an invisible audience, and it drove Sirius mad.

Guinevere dropped a precise measurement of belladonna into the cauldron and turned to Sirius. "We'll have to wait about twenty to thirty minutes for the potion to ferment before we can add the rest of the ingredients."

Sirius peered at the instructions on the board and looked back at her. "If we added powdered deadly nightshade to the mix it would ferment faster. We could be done in ten minutes."

Guinevere was astonished, for two things had shown themselves at once: 1) Sirius did have intelligence, and a great deal of it too. She wouldn't have been able to come up with that shortcut if she'd been given the whole day to work on the potion. 2) Sirius Black was also the kind of person who was only concerned with taking the easy way out, no matter what the consequences. He would never think before he acted unless someone was there to stop him.

"You must be out of your mind!" she chastised.

Sirius' brow furrowed quickly as he tried to figure out what the cause of her scolding was.

"Putting deadly nightshade in this mix would make this potion hazardous to plants. The whole point of making this repellant is to keep pixies away from one's garden, so doing that would ruin the potion completely!"

"No, it wouldn't," Sirius retorted. "We're not going to be using this repellant in a garden, we're using it in Defense Against the Dark Arts. If we were using it in a garden then it would make sense to take that into consideration, but since we aren't, it doesn't make sense to do more work than we have to."

"We need to know how to make this potion correctly! I can't believe that you don't even care about doing things the right way. I'll be amazed if you last a month at this school with your attitude!"

Sirius was astonished, for two things had shown themselves at once: 1) Guinevere had quite the bug up her arse to be so anal at age eleven. 2) He and Guinevere Carnahan were not going to get along at all. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive his first year of Potions now that they were partners.

James and Remus had noticed Guinevere's raised voice and both glanced up at Sirius to make sure that he had everything under control. Sirius gave them a reassuring look and turned his gaze back to his partner.

"Well, of course my dear Guinevere. Whatever you say."

It was the first time Sirius had mocked Guinevere Carnahan in that particular way. It wouldn't be the last.

* * *

"So what was going on with that girl in Potions?" James asked Sirius as they sat in the Great Hall eating dinner that evening.

"Oh, nothing James, she's just a stuck up know-it-all. I'll just have to get used to her."

At that moment a redheaded girl passed behind Remus, who was seated on the other side of the table, and sat down at the opposite end of the table. James' gaze followed her the whole way.

Sirius blinked a few times at James and smiled. "So what was going on with that girl?"

James finally shifted his eyes away from the redhead. "What? Oh, nothing… er…"

Sirius nodded and allowed James to start filling his plate with dessert before asking the next question. "What's her name?"

"Lily Evans," James answered immediately. He quickly looked up at Sirius with panic in his face. He had been caught.

"She's nothing, eh?"

James avoided Sirius' gaze and started shifting food around on his plate. "She's smart… and nice…"

"Jesus, mate, why are you worrying about this stuff now? Aren't you a bit young?"

James' face set resolutely. "My dad said that when he met my mum he knew right away that she was the one."

"Your dad probably wasn't eleven when he made that decision."

"You can laugh at me if you want to, Sirius, but you can't make me feel bad about it. She's special."

"That's right, James, she's special. All girls are special. Special in that 'keep away from me' manner."

He waited for James to respond, but his friend said nothing. Sirius quickly realized that James took this very seriously, and that it was probably not the best idea for him to be making fun of him. So he took another approach.

"Remus knows her pretty well."

James' eyes shot to his quiet friend sitting across the table. Remus, who was suddenly aware that he had been thrust into the conversation against his will, looked up abruptly and tried to blink stupidly. James was not fooled.

"How do you know her?"

"I don't know her well," Remus began uncomfortably. "We've just been helping each other with our essays because we both know how to do the homework. That's all!" he added when he noted the warning glare that James was shooting him.

"Has she ever mentioned me?" James asked hopefully.

Remus swallowed. "Yes…. She thinks you're trouble."

Sirius snickered, but James looked downtrodden. "Trouble? How can she think that, she doesn't even know me yet!"

For a split second the half-smirk that appeared on Remus' face whenever he was about to be ironic was showing. "Well, you sort of have a reputation…"

"Oh, great!" James huffed. "He gets to be the saint because he does his homework and doesn't talk back, but you and I give some kids polka-dotted robes and suddenly we're branded for life!"

"Ja-ames," Sirius called mischievously, "I think the key here is to look at this as an advantage rather than a setback. So she's friends with Remus. You can either get in a huff about it or you can realize that this might work to your benefit."

He pointed to the other end of the table, where Lily Evans sat talking with a girl sitting one table over. A girl with dark hair and violet eyes. Sirius smacked a palm to his forehead in fury and groaned.

"What?"

"Out of all the girls you could've picked to fall in love with, you had to pick the friend of my mortal enemy!"

James looked over at Lily talking with Guinevere Carnahan. He became worried. "Sirius, you have to try not to vex her too much. If you do, Lily will hate us because she'll tell her about us." Sirius was about to protest, but a widening of the hazel eyes from behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses stopped him short. "Please, Sirius."

Sirius sighed in frustration and yanked on handfuls of his hair. "All right, I'll try to be good for your sake. But I swear that when I start fancying women I will never make anything this complicated. It's not worth it."

**NOW **

Guinevere sat at her desk with a cup of coffee and her last case file. It was very early in the morning, but she normally got the office before most so she could start the day when everything was peaceful and quiet. She looked over her paperwork to make sure it was all in order, and continued to sip at her coffee while everyone filed in for another day of work. It was Thursday, and Codger had promised her a new assignment today, which she was looking forward to.

She heard a distinct, heavy footfall that was becoming more familiar to her each day. A swagger in the very sound of the walk. She was afraid it would one day drive her mad.

But on that day a peculiar scent wafted around the partition that separated her from her new partner. The scent was unmistakable, but she was afraid to peek around the wall, afraid of the past coming back to haunt her.

The smell of leather.

She had to risk it. She was far too curious by nature not to look. As she shifted her chair to the right, she leaned far over to peer around the partition and sneak a glance at the figure standing behind it.

He was standing at his desk with a stack of letters in his hand, discarding the useless ones into a wastepaper bin and placing the ones he wanted to keep between his pinky and ring finger. But something in the picture was out of place. It was a well-fitted black leather jacket, stopping right at his waist. Guinevere tried hard to shake off the feeling of deja vu; it looked so much like the jacket he had worn in his youth. It also looked like he had bought it used because it was properly broken in and worn to perfection.

Sirius dumped the letters he had saved onto his desk, and took a moment to clasp his hands together behind his head and stretch. As he did so, his shirt lifted up ever so slightly so that Guinevere could see a thin strip of flesh from his abdomen –

She averted her gaze quickly. Normally, she a made a point of not noticing attractiveness in men simply out of principle. She didn't like to inflate other people's egos and thought of it as a rather shallow way of looking at someone. But Sirius Black _was _attractive, in fact, very much so. It was one of his traits that she found the most infuriating. Why someone like him should be blessed with such good looks was beyond her. Even twelve years in Azkaban prison hadn't destroyed his body beyond repair. He actually seemed to have built it back up during the time he had spent shut up in Hogwarts, waiting for his name to be cleared.

What annoyed her the most was that even she could occasionally become distracted by the those good looks, the strong shoulders, the angular jaw, the slim hips, the black-blue hair that was cut so that bits of fringe fell into the dark blazing eyes. Yes, she found it most annoying.

As a matter of fact, she was so annoyed at that moment that she lost her balance in her chair and it tipped over, causing her to crash to the floor.

Sirius immediately dropped his arms and looked down to see Guinevere sprawled on the ground. He eyed her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"Ye-yes," she floundered, trying desperately to get up as quickly as possible, as she felt that doing that would somehow make her seem less guilty.

Sirius rushed to help her up, looking at her chair as he pulled her to her feet. "Why'd you tip over?"

"Er, there was a piece of parchment I was trying to get on the ground, and I just leaned over too far and the whole thing crashed with me."

Sirius made a point to look around for the piece of parchment that had caused all the trouble so he could give it to her. But he didn't see any parchment on the floor at all. He decided not to pursue the matter.

"You're sure you're all right?"

Guinevere nodded a bit too quickly. "Yes, yes I'm fine! Really!"

Sirius backed away from her and started to shrug his jacket off, but she stopped him.

"You might want to leave that on," she said, ducking behind the partition and emerging with a large box, which she placed in his arms. "We've got something else to do before we get our debriefing from Codger."

Sirius shook the box in an attempt to determine what lay inside it, as Guinevere went behind the partition again and emerged with another box, which she kept in her own arms.

"What's all this?"

"We've got paper-dumping duty." When Sirius blinked confusedly at her, she elaborated. "Every month all the official paperwork for this place gets turned over to the Ministry so they can keep it on file. Instead of having owls carry it over in smaller packages, they ask us to send it in bulk – like this – through the special floo delivery network next-door to us."

"You do this monthly? Don't most branches run by the Ministry have to turn in their paperwork every day?"

"Very good," Guinevere said, impressed. "How'd you know that?"

Sirius shrugged. "I worked in the Department of Magical Transport my first couple years out of school."

"Which subsection?"

"Broom Regulatory Control."

Guinevere winced. "That sounds boring."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Better than the Apparition Test Center, which was on the same floor. We had every kind of medic running back and forth on any given day because some kid spliced himself during the test. Besides, it paid fine, and I could do my work for the Order of the Phoenix without my absences becoming suspicious, since they gave you loads of sick days. And I guess it was the first part of my life that I actually felt was mine. I could do whatever I wanted, my choices, my future, my way…"

His voice trailed off and his eyes clouded over slightly, and Guinevere decided not to ask him any more questions, though his musings confused her. In Guinevere's experience Sirius Black had always done whatever he wanted. The idea that he didn't seem to think so was brand new to her. She supposed she should ask about it another time.

She started walking toward the hall that led to the front door, motioning with her head to get him to follow. "Well, the Ministry doesn't ask for our paperwork because we're not totally under their jurisdiction, and because they'd rather not know what's going on here. If they don't know, they never have to claim responsibility for anything that happens here. It shouldn't take a lot to realize that they don't really like us, with the way they've stuck us out here and how they never send people over to make sure that we have everything we need. We have practically no funding and no one asks about us. It's kind of like we don't exist."

Sirius eyes had narrowed steadily with Guinevere's every word. He looked rather furious by the time she had finished. "It's ridiculous the way people view this place. It's like it's a joke, just something they don't want to have to deal with because it makes them uncomfortable. If they had any idea how hard it was for these people…"

Guinevere stopped and glanced back at him curiously, wondering if her next question would upset him. "I've never seen a werewolf transformed without being under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion. Remus told Codger about what you and your friends did for him during the full moons. My point is, I just wondered… what's it like? Seeing it and being around them and everything?"

Sirius took a deep breath. "It's very sad…. You see the person really struggle to keep hold of himself, try to hold onto his humanity. Of course, they always have to succumb in the end, no matter how hard they fight – and Remus did, believe me. And then, when we were in our Animagus forms, it was just like spending time with an overgrown puppy… a very dangerous overgrown puppy. We never had control over him, but we could keep him in check, and we'd just run alongside him while he howled at the moon. He loved being outside. I think the cruelest thing you can do to a werewolf is to lock him up. They love the fresh air and the wind. But you have to pray that no person ever comes near, because if they do no beast alive can stop that wolf from hunting his prey."

Guinevere nodded in interest as another thought occurred to her. Her eyes lit up. "What's your Animagus form?"

Sirius' eyes flicked from side to side. "Shh, not so loud."

They had just reached the front, where Doris sat with her bunioned feet up on her desk. She was leafing through a copy of Witch Weekly, her face an ugly mosaic as she had actually increased her already overabundant usage of makeup since Sirius had come to work there. When she saw him coming she giggled and immediately straightened up, her eyes narrowing as they fell on Guinevere, who was walking alongside him.

Sirius seemed to be ignoring her, but Doris was delighted, normally only having two chances each day to see him as he arrived for and left work. She was determined to not let this extra chance go to waste, and as Sirius passed by her desk she took her sturdiest quill and gave him a swat on the backside to get his attention.

Guinevere tried not to laugh as Sirius blinked widely and incredulously before turning around to face his assaulter. Immediately his demeanor changed, and he smiled with that sort of charm that belonged exclusively to him. "Why hello, Doris, I didn't even recognize you sitting there! There's something different about you. Is that new eye shadow?"

Doris giggled much higher than the first time and nodded to him. "The color is called Obsession." She let her lips linger over the final word as if she were beckoning him to look much closer.

Sirius cleared his throat uncomfortably and donned a tight-lipped smile. "How lovely." Doris was about to speak again, but he cut her off. "Well, Doris, I'd love to stop and chat but we've got a lot of work to do today, starting with dropping off these papers. I'm sure we'll have another opportunity to talk some other time."

Doris smiled and batted her eyes, not seeming to take the hint that she had just been brushed off. As they exited the building, Guinevere looked at Sirius and laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Something occurred to Sirius as they were walking. "Why don't we just shrink these boxes into a pocket and then blow them back up to original size before we drop them off? Doesn't that make more sense?"

Guinevere tried to shrug under her heavy load. "Most people do, but I think it's rather ridiculous, after a while. I mean, I get tired of using my wand for everything, don't you?"

Seventeen-year-old Sirius began to poke up from the edges of Sirius' mind. There was a very wrong way he could answer that question, which would entail all kinds of innuendo, but Grown Up Sirius smacked Seventeen-year-old Sirius into his rightful place. If it had been another woman, he wouldn't have hesitated, but he certainly wouldn't try it in front of her.

Her voice suddenly broke his thoughts. "I really can't believe you."

Sirius, who had been looking rather relieved at his narrow escape from Doris, now looked to her defensively. "Believe what?"

"You! This act you put on all the time to make women fall for you! It's obvious you don't even like Doris, so why don't you say something? But some things never change, I guess, and Sirius Black cannot afford to be seen without his charm. You are ridiculous; you're just a big joke! And one day, a woman that you like is going to see right through your façade and it's going to drive you crazy because you won't have anything to use on her."

Sirius could think of nothing to say to that, so he took a different tactic to comeback at her. "Well, at least I make an attempt to get people to like me! In case you hadn't noticed, it's much easier to work with people twenty-four/seven when they think you're a nice person! The only person who likes you at all in that office is Codger, and that's just because he knows you're good at your job."

Guinevere avoided his gaze as he spoke, and when they arrived at the front of the building next-door, she opened a large slot above the ground by pulling up a sheet of metal, and kicked in her box.

Sirius followed her actions while Guinevere held up the metal sheet. "But tell me honestly, my dear Guinevere, is there anyone in that office who knows your first name besides me? Or are you just Carnahan, that lady who's good at her job and doesn't talk to anyone, who gets to work before everyone else does because she has no life of her own, who tries her best to act like 'one of the guys' because she's afraid that being a woman makes her too vulnerable in a world full of men?"

The metal sheet slammed down on his final words. Guinevere finally managed to lift her gaze up from the dirt and looked him in the eye. Her eyes weren't hateful, nor were they enlightened. They were just… sad… and strong. Sirius immediately felt guilty.

He ran a hand across the back of his neck and stared off to the side. "I didn't…. What I meant was…" He sighed. "Too far, James and Remus were always right about that. I always take things one step further than I mean to. I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize. I provoked you and you responded. Anything that I heard from you was my own fault."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have kept going like that, I should've backed off-"

"It's over, let's just let it go. I don't think either one of us is permanently damaged."

He followed her back to the office in silence, but when they reached the door, he stopped.

"I can't go back in there, she'll start talking to me. Maybe you could distract her, and I could slip by unnoticed."

Guinevere actually smiled at the suggestion. "Distract her? With what?"

Sirius gave her a pleading look. "I don't know, just anything!"

He waited for a response. Finally, she shrugged. "I'll try."

Guinevere walked into the office first, with Sirius following behind a few seconds later. Doris did notice him, but was unable to stop him, as Guinevere was demanding her attention. Sirius walked quickly back to his desk and sighed in relief as he plopped into his chair. A minute later, Guinevere came in smiling smugly.

Sirius swiveled in his chair to look at her. "I can't believe you actually did it! What did you say to her?"

Guinevere waved a hand as if to shrug off his praise. "Oh, nothing. Just some crap about my needing her to keep a look out for letters coming from my family because I was worried about my brother."

Sirius tilted his head. "You have a brother?"

Guinevere nodded and started to her desk, when Sirius' voice stopped her.

"It's too bad that you were a Ravenclaw. You would've been a great Marauder."

"A what?"

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "Nothing."

Guinevere decided to ignore his last comment and sat down on her side of the partition at her desk. Sirius had been sitting with his own thoughts for a minute or two, waiting for Guinevere to go and see Codger, when he heard her voice from the other side of the partition.

"Sirius?" she called quietly, leaning out so he could see her face.

"Yes, Guinevere," he answered, leaning to the side as well.

"What's your Animagus form?"

Sirius grinned wickedly. "I don't think we know each other quite well enough for me to be telling you all of my secrets, Guinevere…"

Guinevere leaned back so that she was again behind the partition as sudden realization struck her: Sirius had just deliberately flirted with her. She couldn't believe it. Had she been in a worse mood she would've done something to counter it, like reprimand him or slap him. But he obviously was just trying to mess with her head. She realized that it wouldn't have done any good to counter him anyway, and decided to take Sirius' behavior the way she always did – with no consideration whatsoever.

* * *

"Where is she? He'll be here any minute!"

"Don't worry Minerva, Ivy told me she just had a few things to clear up before she came downstairs. She should be here momentarily."

Ivy had thought it best not to have the entire staff meet the American on his first day, so she had asked only the house heads and Remus to be with her to welcome him. Now they all stood at the entrance to the castle, some of them bored, some of them interested, all of them wishing that Ivy would hurry up and get there so they didn't have to roll out the welcome mat without her blessing.

There was a familiar patter of feet and Remus turned around to find Ivy trotting down the stairs with quick precision. She did not seem happy.

Always keen on her duties as deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall immediately informed the headmistress, "He should be arriving very shortly, Ivy."

Ivy nodded. "Thanks, Minerva."

Remus leaned into her, trying to speak quietly as he could. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "Oh, nothing, I've just got so much to do right now, and I wish that I didn't have to be here to welcome this guy. On top of all the things I've got to prepare for the beginning of this year, I have to make sure that the Texan is comfortable and that he'll work well with all of us here. I just hope he's nice."

"He will be," Remus assured. "You're worrying too much. He's supposed to help you too, you know, it's not just a one-way street."

Ivy leaned her head on his shoulder exhaustedly. "I just want the next week to be over right now. I want to move on to more important things that aren't so tedious."

"It'll be over sooner than you think."

She smiled, though he couldn't see it, and reached her closest hand up to grab the edge of his robe so she could feel her fingers run through the soft threadbare fabric. "Thank you for putting up with me in all this craziness."

He wrapped an arm around one of her shoulders, still trying not to appear too affectionate especially while Severus was in full view. "Don't be ridiculous. There's nothing to put up with. Besides, I like you in all this craziness – you shine in it."

Ivy looked up at him in awe. "Why did you marry me?" she whispered. "I don't deserve you."

Remus shook his head. "Don't you dare," he warned. "We've already had this conversation, and it did us no good. We both feel we don't deserve each other due to our massive inferiority and doormat complexes. We'll just have to leave it at that."

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him, but at that moment the door opened and Remus had to step away. In stepped a shrouded figure, whose cowboy boots just peeked out from the bottom of his robes. He dropped his bags on the floor unceremoniously and whipped off his hood.

"Hot damn! Don't know how you people can stand this weather up here, but I'm gonna have lots to get used to! 'Specially with all this rain!"

The man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, was tall and even under his bulky robes it was obvious that he was powerfully built. He had sharp, chiseled features, square shoulders, and sandy hair that was cut short. The features of his face were perfectly arranged from his baby blue eyes and alarmingly straight nose, to his strong chin and a smile that even Sirius Black could envy.

Ivy stepped forward. "Hello sir, and welcome. I'm Ivy Dumbledore, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The man held and his hand out and shook Ivy's enthusiastically, starting to speak again in his rich southern drawl. "You'll have to pardon my saying so, Miss, but no one told me that when I was going to study under the headmistress of this fine school, that she would be as absolutely beautiful as you. Frankly, I was expectin' one of those old, strict, busybody types." His eyes went briefly to Professor McGonagall, who straightened up even further than Remus had believed was possible.

Ivy's cheeks tinged slightly in embarrassment. "Well, thank you very much for that."

The man's eyes widened and he stepped back slightly. "I'm so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Clayton Lee Wilcott, Deputy Headmaster of the Starlight Canyon School of Sorcery."

Remus noticed Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick snort at the sound of his name and also saw the expression on Professor McGonagall's face growing more annoyed each second. Severus kept his face stony and impassive. Remus had already heard enough, however. He could usually sense things like insincerity in people, and this man oozed it. It was clear that the only person that he was interested in impressing was Ivy, seeing as her opinion was the only one that mattered.

Ivy, unfortunately, did not seem to notice this. She quickly started introducing Clayton to the rest of the group.

"Well, Mr. Wilcott-"

"It's Clayton, please, Miss."

"All right, but then you have to call me Ivy."

"Why, thank ya kindly."

"Clayton, this is our Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall who is also the head of Gryffindor House and our Transfiguration teacher."

Clayton seemed to squirm a bit under Minerva's sharp gaze, but he held himself together. "It's a pleasure to be sure, ma'am."

Minerva gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, to be sure."

Ivy moved down the line. "This is Professor Sprout, head of Hufflepuff House, and also our Herbology teacher."

"G'day ma'am."

Professor Sprout offered a smile similar to Professor McGonagall's, and shook Clayton's hand firmly.

"This is the head of Ravenclaw House and our Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick."

Clayton looked down and gave Flitwick a double take. "Howdy, sir! Well, I'll be, he sure is a tiny fella!" he added to Ivy, although everyone could hear him. "No offense meant, a course! And you sure do have a lot of houses in this school!"

Professor Flitwick nodded stiffly as Ivy explained.

"Each of our houses value different qualities in their students. By sorting them into houses we find out what kind of students they are, and we also give them the benefit of being always near to other students like themselves."

"Well, that seems like a right fine idea."

"Now, this is Professor Snape, the head of Slytherin House, and also our Potions Master."

Clayton offered his hand to Severus, which was not accepted. The Potions Master eyed the man harshly, making him shift uncomfortably.

"I've always had a great deal of respect for your area of work, Professor. Potions is a very difficult subject, more art than science. I hope to learn a lot from you this year."

But Severus was not a fool for such flattery. He continued to eye Clayton suspiciously. "Yes," he drawled.

Ivy could see that their conversation was not going to be a pleasant one, so she quickly moved to Remus. "And this is my husband, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin."

Though Clayton's smile remained in place, the expression in his eyes changed. Not enough for everyone to notice, but certainly enough for Remus to detect it. Clayton already did not like Remus. No more than Remus liked him.

"I've heard a you, you're the werewolf, right? A werewolf teaching the Dark Arts… kinda seems poetically fittin', don't ya think?" Clayton looked briefly at Ivy to gauge her reaction. "Also must be hard having your wife as your boss, knowin' that she's the one writin' yer paycheck. But you must be the kinda guy who's real good with all that stuff or this lovely lady wouldn't a married ya."

Ivy laughed and nodded.

_He's testing our marriage_, Remus realized. _He wants to know how close we are, so he can figure out how fast to move in._

It quickly occurred to him that he was being very paranoid. He simply couldn't help it. All of his instincts were revolting against this man.

Remus smiled. "Well, feeling threatened by one's own wife shows a sign of immaturity that I like to think I've surpassed. Besides, I enjoy my job very much. As for my position being somewhat poetically fitting, that I suppose, is all in the eye of the beholder."

Clayton pushed further. "Yeah, but the students are probably fascinated by it. I've always been very interested in the subject of dark creatures myself." He paused for a moment, eyeing Remus with the look of a cat stalking a pretty bird in a cage. "What I wouldn't give to see your dark side…"

But Remus was not a twittering bird. And if their new guest was trying to assert his dominance, Remus had no intention of giving him the impression of the tame, docile, gentlemanly exterior that worked so comfortably around his peers and students. He grinned somewhat cruelly at Clayton, his gaze piercing and callous, and then whispered to the man in a low slippery tone, "I'll show you my dark side if you show me yours, Mr. Wilcott."

Clayton's eyes widened in understanding. "Well, well, Professor Lupin, your reputation does not do you justice. I had you pegged as a man of mild temperament and simple values."

Remus laughed silently and shook his head at the man. "It is not wise to judge any person as simple or well-tempered. After all, we all have our own complexities, don't we?" He watched as Clayton gave him a slow nod and a poison smile. "And as for reputations… well, I have struggled for many years not to have much of one, so for you to have knowledge of my personality would have probably required some digging on your part…. You should be careful – people might think that you're up to something, Mr. Wilcott…"

In that moment Remus had made it clear to Clayton just what he was up against. The gauntlet had been thrown. He wasn't sure what Clayton was intending to fight for, but at least Remus had shown him that he was not about to roll over and bare his throat to this overgrown puppy.

Ivy, however, managed to miss all of it. A house elf had approached her about something very important involving the start of term feast, and she didn't see any of their exchange.

"Well, Mr. Wilcott, Mr. Filch is waiting at the end of the hall and he'll take you to your room. We'll see you at dinner and tomorrow morning you can come to my office and we'll start discussing your duties for the start of the year."

Clayton slowly tore his gaze from Remus, shifting his whole demeanor as his eyes came to rest on Ivy. "Well, I very much look forward to it, ma'am! I'll just be off now so I can get rid of all this clutter I brought with me." With that he grabbed his bags from the floor, walked to the end of the hall, and followed Mr. Filch upstairs.

Ivy turned to face everyone. "Thanks everybody. I think our welcome worked out just fine, so I'll see you all at dinner and I hope that all of you will stop by and have a talk with me before the year starts so I can make sure that we're all on the same page."

All of the teachers went their separate ways, leaving Remus and Ivy alone. Remus had every intention of telling Ivy just what he thought of their new visitor, but Ivy whirled around to him and spoke first.

"He seems like a great guy! I feel better already about this whole thing, don't you, Remus?"

The words Remus wanted to say died in his throat. He didn't want to upset her when she was feeling so relieved. "Er… yeah, he seems fine, I suppose."

"This is going to work out so much better than I thought it was going to. Everything's going to be fine this year! Clayton will be a great help and I'll have less to do because of it." She grabbed Remus by his sleeve. "You see? I won't have to spend all my nights up at my desk. We'll have more time."

Remus sighed in defeat. "Well, that's good news."

Ivy started to walk away. "I have some things to clear up before I go to dinner. You coming?"

He nodded absently. "Yeah, coming."

When he really thought about it, Remus knew he didn't have anything to worry about. Even if Clayton was trying to butter Ivy up now, he knew that she wouldn't fall for his act in the end. She'd see through him soon enough.

But the thought of him there all year still made Remus feel sick to his stomach.

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner was done and most had gone to bed, Ivy waited at the front of the school again. She was not alone either. Severus Snape was at her side, watching, waiting.

"So how do you feel about all this?"

Severus did not bother to look in Ivy's direction as he responded. "There is nothing to feel about it. Only things to do. I expect that this will be a lot of work, though."

He was about to continue when the door opened and two people stepped inside. As the hoods of their cloaks were pulled back, the faces revealed were that of a middle-aged man with a bulbous nose and ruddy cheeks and a young man with white-blonde hair and cold eyes.

The older man approached them. "You must be the headmistress and Professor Snape, I presume?"

Ivy stepped forward. "Yes, we are."

The man smiled good-naturedly. "Well, then I suppose that this lad is in your care now. We've done all we can for him up to this point. I hope you have something for him to do."

"Oh, don't worry," Severus assured the man. "He'll have plenty to do."

At the sound of his old potions master's voice, the young man looked up sharply. His eyes fell on his old teacher, and for a moment something like relief lit the young man's features. This look faded quickly and was immediately replaced with his typical insolent glare.

The middle-aged man pulled a roll of parchment from the briefcase he was carrying. "If you'll just sign this, then, just to say that you received the boy and that he'll be in your charge now. Then I can leave and let you get started on whatever it is your planning on having him do."

Severus and Ivy both signed the parchment with the quill the man provided, and watched as he pulled up his hood and prepared to leave. Before going to the door, he whispered to Ivy. "Take care of him, please. He's a nasty little bugger, but he's got nothing left in the world. I've kind of grown to like him, and I just want to make sure that you know he isn't as bad as he wishes he was."

Ivy nodded to the man and offered a small, comforting smile. "Don't worry, we know. He's always been quite the handful, but we're used to his routine. He'll do fine here."

The man sighed gratefully. "Thank you, Miss. The hospital might send someone to check on him from time to time."

"Thank you, sir," Ivy said as she let the man out. The door closed behind her and she turned again to the young man. "Welcome back, Draco."

He did not seem surprised or grateful at his surroundings. Instead, Draco gave her his usual sneer and a stare that let Ivy know just how much cooperation she could expect from him. She didn't feel up to the argument.

"You'll be working as Professor Snape's assistant this year. He'll be in charge of you and let you know what your duties are."

Draco seemed disgusted. "Being a professor's assistant is a job for poor people and house elves."

"Nevertheless, Mr. Malfoy," Severus interjected, "you will be acting as an assistant. I suggest that you get used to the idea, seeing as you have few other opportunities for employment."

Draco looked at the floor, his mouth and brow twisted in anger. Severus glanced at Ivy, who gave him a look of support, though she knew he didn't need it.

"Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room. Don't forget your luggage."

Draco looked up at him. "The house elves are supposed to do that. It's there job, not mine."

Severus took a domineering step toward the young man. "From now on you had best learn that the only person responsible for you is yourself. No more servants doing your bidding, no more friends to help you gang up on the defenseless. You are alone, Mr. Malfoy. If you do not wish to be, my suggestion would be that you try to make yourself more… likeable."

Ivy thought she noticed the tiniest hint of a smile at the corners of Severus' mouth with his last comment. She had to admit, it was a comical piece of advice coming from him, a man who'd never seemed to care if anyone liked him at all. She wasn't sure that Draco would appreciate the joke, though.

"Come, Mr. Malfoy. Tomorrow you will report to my office so I can give you your first set of jobs that I expect to be done before start of term."

Severus gave Ivy one final look to let her know that he had everything under control, then strode down the hall, a dejected and luggage-laden Draco Malfoy at his heels.

Ivy chuckled to herself as she climbed the many stairs up to her office. She still had a hard time thinking of it as her office after how many years she'd spent going up there to visit Albus, but she knew it was just a matter of time before she started thinking of it as home. Keeping with the theme Albus had enjoyed of using muggle candy names as passwords, Ivy uttered "pixie stix" and waited as the staircase ascended to the door of the office.

She entered the office to the voices of dozens of pictures that lined the high walls. Many of them were mumbling incoherently and sleepily while others actually greeted her by name. When she arrived at her desk the portrait of Albus that hung behind it began speaking.

"Hello, my dear girl. Did the day pass well?"

Ivy smiled as she gave her desk a once over. "Yes, it was fine, thank you."

"Any problems with the Texan or with young Mr. Malfoy?"

"Not so far. Though I'm worried about Draco already. He's not going to adjust to this well."

Albus chuckled. "No, I suspect not. Then again, he was never one to make anything easy. However, I'm sure that Severus will straighten out his attitude very quickly."

Ivy nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just have my usual misgivings, that's all." She looked beyond her desk, up the stairs to the door that led to her living quarters. "I better go up there and make sure that my husband is still talking to me. I thought I'd be up here much sooner; Draco came late. He's probably asleep by now."

Albus smiled. "Then I'll say goodnight."

"Goodnight, Albus."

Ivy climbed the stairs and opened a large oak door that led to a homey living room space. On one of the side tables that sat next to a large burgundy sofa there was a sprig of lavender with a note on top of it reading:

_You should come by and visit here more often – the natives are really quite friendly. There's some tea on the coffee table if you want it._

Ivy sighed, taking the lavender gently between her fingertips and bringing it up to her nose. The therapeutic scent began washing away the day's activities and Ivy looked toward the coffee table to see what lay there. But a light coming under the door from her bedroom caught her attention. Ignoring the tea, she walked to her bedroom door and opened it.

Remus sat on their bed, his back propped up by a pillow, reading in the soft candlelight. He wore what he normally wore to bed every night, a soft pair of cotton pajama bottoms. His hair fell charmingly into his eyes, though he didn't seem to notice.

Ivy suddenly became aware of how dim the candle was and cleared her throat to speak. "You know, you'll ruin your eyes reading in light like that."

He looked up, already knowing that she'd been there from the moment she'd set foot in her office. He was glad to see her smiling at him teasingly. He smirked back. "Not these eyes. Are you coming to bed?"

Ivy nodded. "Yeah, just give me a second." She quickly placed the lavender on her bedside table, which he smiled at, and retreated to the bathroom. After changing into a sleeveless cotton nightgown, she hopped onto the mattress and scooted close to him.

"What are you reading?" she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder so she could see better and tracing the fingers of one hand along his upper back.

Remus turned the page. "_A Tale of Two Cities_."

"Ah," Ivy mumbled, "Dickens. I used to read him all the time when we were younger."

Remus turned his head slightly toward Ivy, though his eyes never left the book. "I don't remember ever seeing you read Dickens when we were at school."

Ivy shrugged and kissed his shoulder, snuggling closer as he encircled an arm around her waist, though he still kept his eyes glued to the page. "Well, not many kids read muggle books at school here - they still don't, now that I think about it – and I didn't want to be the odd one out."

Remus smiled. "You should have told me. I've read him ever since I was quite young, before I even started going to school. I'd read all of his books by the time we'd left Hogwarts and I've reread one book every year since I was twenty. If you'd told me you were reading him we probably would have worked him into our fireside chats that we used to have."

Ivy laughed. "Oh, I remember those. They were nice."

"Yes, very nice."

Ivy paused for a moment and when she spoke, her voice held a hint of sadness. "Have we changed very much since then?"

At those words, Remus looked up from his book and stared directly into her eyes. "No, not so much." He smiled comfortingly, his eyes glimmering, and Ivy felt his arm tighten around her waist as if to assure her.

She sighed. "We were just a bit naïve, I guess. Sneaking into the common room till all hours of the morning and never once realizing that all those meetings and all that time together might mean that we liked each other as more than just friends."

Remus searched her face, examined the way her hair curled round her ears and neck, the hue of her skin in the candlelight, as if he believed that by memorizing her he could turn back time. He put the book down slowly and matched the rhythm of his breathing to hers, something which always calmed him down at night when he couldn't sleep. It had always been easier for him to rest with her near.

"I know I loved you then, even if my subconscious was the only part of me that was fully aware. We were just too young to understand what it all meant."

Ivy smiled, suddenly remembering a conversation that she'd had with Lily years ago…

_"I mean, I am ridiculously comfortable around him, but… I don't know, Lily. You're a lot older then me in many ways. I suppose I think I'm too young to understand what love should _feel _like… I guess that doesn't make much sense-"_

She looked up at him. "Yes, you're right, we were too young. James and Lily were always maturing faster than everyone. They got it before the rest of us did. But we have time now."

Ivy leaned in to kiss him, placing a hand on his chest. As their lips touched, Remus winced, causing her to pull back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot!" Ivy removed her hand, seeing a dark bruise on his chest where she had placed it. She gingerly brushed her fingers over the spot. "That looks awful. How have you been doing?"

Remus shook his head. "It's really not that bad. Just the usual pain and bruising from the transformation itself. I'm recovering quite well, considering that it was only two days ago. I'm just glad that it wasn't during the start of term. It would've been terrible if I'd had to miss the first days of school."

Ivy was now checking him over for other bruises. "You know, I could heal all of this faster for you."

She moved her hand back to the bruise on his chest, but he grabbed her wrist and glared at her. "Ivy, we've discussed this. I've been dealing with this my whole life and I can handle it. Especially with the help I get now from the Wolfsbane Potion. If all I have to deal with is the simple aches and pains, I'd rather you not waste your energy and strength repairing all of that."

Ivy averted her gaze from his, as she always did when she was trying to get around something. "Well, if it's not that bad then I don't really see the harm in my trying to-"

His grip on her wrist tightened causing her to stop. He was using up strength and she didn't want him wasting what energy he had on trying to subdue her.

"Ivy."

She slowly looked back up to him. When she finally met his gaze, his eyes softened and he seemed more tired. "Maybe for the harder transformations you can help, but I'm fine for now. All right?"

Ivy nodded and he released her. She leaned against him, feeling his arm return to her waist, though this time she was more careful about making sure that she wasn't lying on any bruised flesh.

"Which was your favorite character?"

"What?"

She motioned with her head toward the book on Remus' lap. "Dickens – who was your favorite character?"

Remus pondered for a moment. "I was rather fond of David Copperfield. You?"

Ivy nodded thoughtfully. "David Copperfield makes sense for you. For me, I guess it's a tie between Nicholas Nickleby and… Ebenezer Scrooge." She elaborated when he shot her a quizzical glance. "You've gotta love a reformed sinner."

He chuckled, picking up the book again, and opening it to the correct page. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I did always love the part where he comes to his own grave and begs to live."

Ivy closed her eyes. "Will you read to me?"

"I'm in the middle of the book," he warned.

"I don't care. I've already read it anyway."

"All right, I'll read. Oh, we're at a good part, the second time when we hear about the quilt being sown…"

Ivy smiled and let her mind empty itself as he began. Remus' voice slowly drowned out every other sense and feeing until she had relaxed into a lovely stupor. He read to her long after she'd fallen asleep so she could hear him in her dreams.

* * *

There was a knock at the door and Guinevere flicked her wand to turn the stove off as she went to answer it. As she suspected, she opened the door to find Sirius Black waiting on the other side. In his hand he held a large bouquet of flowers and he greeted her with his usual knee-buckling grin.

"Your right on time!" she said, moving aside so he could step in.

"Yes, well I figured the 'fashionably late' tactic wouldn't stand so well with you," he jested. "And, of course, it was so difficult to get over here being as far away as I am."

"Very funny. May I ask who the flowers are for?"

Sirius became solemn. "Oh, they're for my uncle. His favorite wife just died today."

Guinevere blinked. "Favorite…?"

He nodded nonchalantly. "Yes, he's got quite a few of them, but his favorite just keeled over the other day. Total surprise, of course. He feeds them so well, everyone just assumed that they'd all live to be a hundred. None of them talk much, but they always seemed happy."

Guinevere stared at Sirius in confusion. He smiled. "Joke, Guinevere. It was a joke. The flowers are for you."

He held them out to her and waited for a response. Guinevere quickly changed her expression and raised an amused but annoyed eyebrow at him before accepting the flowers and glancing over them. "So what are they for?"

"A peace offering. An apology."

"Apology for what?"

Sirius shrugged. "The motorbike. I know it's an annoyance to you, and I'm sorry."

Actually, though Guinevere would have never admitted it, she was getting rather used to the motorbike humming its way back and forth in the night. After only a few days, she was becoming accustomed to seeing her new partner disappear into the dusk, now with his new jacket to accompany him.

Guinevere shook her head. "Don't worry about it. The flowers are beautiful." She realized that she was still sporting her apron from the kitchen and began to feel silly next to a man who would've looked good in a dirty sheet. She handed him back the flowers. "Just do me a favor, go into that closet over there, get a vase to put the flowers in, and set them on that small table by the door. I'll get dinner ready. I figured we could eat in the kitchen since it's nice in there and there's only two of us."

"Works for me."

Guinevere backed away. "Okay, be with you in a second." She whipped off her apron quickly and ducked back into the kitchen.

Sirius took a look around the flat in attempt to locate the closet that Guinevere had mentioned. In doing so, he found that she was not lying when she had said that she was a terrible housekeeper. Though the flat was wonderfully furnished and comfortable, Guinevere put even the most dedicated pack rats to shame. Books were stacked on nearly every surface, and framed pictures and decorative wares were hidden behind piles of papers. Sirius assumed that many of the papers had to do with work, but the books were of such a wide variety that Sirius didn't even attempt to scan most of the titles out of fear that he would find Guinevere to be a much deeper person than he had suspected.

He found the closet in the corner of the room and opened it, finding extra blankets and pillows, ugly pottery that he assumed were old Christmas presents she had meant to take back, and more books. After carefully searching through the closet, careful not to cause an avalanche of clutter, he found a lovely crystal vase, and brought it to the small, oval-shaped table by the door, which at the moment only held a dish with some potpourri in it. It was the only table in the room that held so little.

Guinevere appeared again, finding Sirius carefully arranging the flowers in the vase so that all of the vibrant colors could be easily seen. She cleared her throat to get his attention. "Dinner's on the table. I hope you like fettuccini alfredo."

Sirius backed away from the flowers and momentarily examined them before deciding that they looked fine. "Sounds great."

He followed Guinevere into the kitchen, which was far less cluttered than the rest of the house, most objects finding their proper places. A small, circular table sat in the middle of the space with four chairs around it. Two places were set across from each other with plates of pasta, two glasses of white wine, and two small garden salads. Had there been candlelight, Sirius would have felt that he was in a gourmet restaurant.

"This looks fantastic."

Guinevere shrugged. "Told you, I'm better at cooking than housekeeping. I'm sorry, I didn't know if you preferred white or red wine, so I just chose what I thought would go best with the dish."

They both sat down to the meal. Sirius placed his napkin in his lap. "I'm usually fine with either one. I've always been easy when it comes to alcohol."

Guinevere smirked. "Oh yes, I can recall." She paused waiting for him to begin. When he didn't, she nodded to him. "Well, go on, tell me what you think of it."

Sirius took a bite of the pasta and closed his eyes briefly before swallowing and speaking. "It's delicious. Now I see your ploy, you're determined to win me over with wonderful food."

Guinevere tilted her head. "Oh dear, you've figured me out! I shall use the fine methods of the culinary arts to win over your soul before your mind."

They both chuckled for a moment, a joined sound that subsided uncomfortably. To anyone looking in on them it would've seemed that these two barely knew each other at all.

Guinevere cleared her throat. "So what did you think of your first assignment?"

Sirius set down his fork. "Well, I've actually never seen a vampire before, only learned about them in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was glad to meet one face to face finally. Now I know what to expect, and it was pleasantly surprising. He was just a regular chap."

Guinevere took a sip of wine and nodded. "Yes, some of them are much less violent and volatile then others. He was particularly calm, which was probably a good thing for your first time meeting one. A lot of them cycle like werewolves, more unstable during certain times of the year. In fact, it always seems that the people who are labeled 'dark creatures' always have a very strong connection to the earth and heavens."

"Makes you feel like maybe there's something we're not getting, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"So what happens to him after we do our job?"

She set down her glass. "After we're done talking with him and letting him know the situation, he gets relocated. Unfortunately, his predicament is the kind where the Ministry likes to intervene since they feel that the residential location of vampires is of great concern for public welfare. All it takes is one vampire attacking some farmhouse or a Leaky Cauldron patron and the rest of them get relocated at the slightest disturbance."

Sirius frowned. "But Edmund didn't do anything. For all his neighbors knew it could have been a dog in their back yard making noise."

Guinevere sighed. "Yes, but regrettably they knew that Edmund was a vampire. They're allowed to file a suit, and when they do that the Ministry automatically relocates the vampire. It was an act put in place while Fudge was in office."

Sirius stared into his wine glass morosely. "But that was his family's land. That was the house he grew up in. They actually have the right to take it from him? Where will they put him now?"

"Yes, they have the right to take it, the act stipulates it. They usually relocate them to some ghetto. Someplace where no one would suspect anything about their unusual lifestyle."

Sirius looked up at her with a hard glare. "Then what good are we really doing? We just sit there with the man and try to make him feel better about the fact that his life is going to be ruined?"

"No, while Codger is negotiating with Ministry officials we find him a new place to live that's better than a place that the regular Ministry department would suggest. You see the act also stipulates that if a Ministry employee can locate a suitable place that won't cost the Ministry much to take care of per year, the vampire can choose that place or the one that is suggested by the Department of Dark Creature Control and Containment. It was a clause added by the Ministry so that employees with vampire relatives could find good homes for their family members."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And it's also a very convenient loophole."

She nodded. "There are a few people in the Ministry who sympathize with our agency, and help to slip loopholes into the acts that threaten the rights of dark creatures so that we can do more good for them."

A thought occurred to Sirius. "How long have you been working there?"

"About ten years. I was always an advocate for the rights of these people, so I suppose it was just a matter of time before they recruited me."

"You were recruited?"

"Yes. Codger approached me after I spoke at a protest rally that promoted the repeal of the Werewolf Taxation Act. I immediately accepted since it was the kind of work I'd wanted to get into. And I've been doing it ever since."

Sirius pulled his slipping napkin back onto his lap and twirled some pasta around his fork. "What else have you done? No husband, no boyfriend, no children?"

Guinevere looked up sharply. "I hardly think that's something that I want to discuss with you."

Sirius blinked. "Why? It was a harmless inquiry."

"Because it's none of your business, that's all."

"What, is it a touchy subject?"

She scowled at him. "I never said that it was, I just don't feel comfortable discussing something like that with someone like you."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Someone like me? What does that mean?"

"Well, with your reputation with women, it seems a bit obvious as to where this discussion could lead."

Sirius put down his fork. "Is that honestly what you think of me? That I just go around shagging women?"

Guinevere rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh please! I remember you bragging about that sort of thing when we were younger! Who was number twenty-eight to snog with you on the rooftop! Making all the boys guess how far you went with some girl on the Quidditch pitch! It was so base and disgusting, I felt like vomiting every time I heard it!"

He gave a short laugh. "You actually took all of that stuff seriously? Please, we were boys! Boys always talk about stupid things like that, and ninety percent of it isn't true. The only reason you singled me out was because I had more of a reputation, and that was only because I had the sort of personality that people paid attention to."

"Of course they paid attention to you! You're Sirius Black! A man's man, a woman's man, and everything that exuded confidence and brilliance. The boy who could have any girl in the school, but always kept his distance so that all of them worshipped him from afar!"

Sirius snorted. "Do you realize that you are blowing up at me for asking you a very simple question? And will you please stop judging me by the person you knew in school?" he shouted.

Guinevere stopped abruptly. She hissed out a breath and looked at her plate. "Oh God, I'm sorry. That was stupid and I'm not making this better. I am really trying hard to get used to all of this."

Sirius shook is head. "It's okay, you've had a lot to deal with in the past week. I just don't want to argue about what happened at school anymore. It's irrelevant at this point, you know? We can't go back and change anything, so why keep at it?"

Guinevere knew he was right. The Sirius she was talking to was not the same Sirius she knew. The Sirius she knew would have enjoyed the argument, no matter how painful it got. This Sirius was drawing the line. He wanted to be productive, he was concerned, he asked questions. She was beginning to see the differences in him, and it was about time that she showed him the differences in her.

"You're right, I know. I don't want us to argue. We've got to be a team now. And if we do argue, it can't be about things like this. I'll make the effort to stop bringing the past up. I guess I've just always had trouble letting go of things because I don't have much to move on to. I've been a bit stagnant for the past few years."

Sirius paused for a moment, soaking up what she had said. "Well, what do you like to talk about?"

Guinevere thought briefly. "Work… and that's pretty much it, I guess."

He gave a small smile. "We need to get you a hobby, then."

Guinevere laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose so…. Well, I do have one interest that I've never admitted to anyone."

Sirius raised his eyebrows in interest. "What's that?"

Guinevere spoke softly as if someone might be listening in the shadows. "Well, I sort of have a strange fascination with a muggle sport called football. Well, football here, and Americans call it soccer."

"Really?"

"It's not as complicated as Quidditch, I suppose, but I watched a match at a muggle relative's house once, and I got completely hooked."

Sirius stared at her in astonishment with a grin on his face. "Well, I never would have guessed that in a million years."

Guinevere smiled.

At the end of dinner, Guinevere cleared the plates and Sirius helped her clean up. After they were done as she saw him to the door, she decided to make a suggestion.

"Do you think that we should do this again next Friday? You know, make a sort of weekly thing? It might be good for us to talk outside work so we can know each other a little better."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

Guinevere opened the door. "Well, see you on Monday then."

"See you then."

Sirius stepped out and walked downstairs to his flat. Guinevere felt somewhat relieved now that he was gone, now that there was no more chance for her to mess up. She walked into her bedroom, laid down on her bed, and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Molly Weasley had just pulled the pork roast out of the oven when she heard a knock at the door.

"Ginny, dear! Will you get that for me?"

"Sure, mum."

Ginny opened the door to find Harry Potter on the other side. He grinned shyly. "Is everyone here already?"

Ginny smiled. "No, they've all decided to not be the first ones here like you."

Harry peered around her shoulder. "But Ron is here, right?"

She stepped aside to let him in. "Yes, he is, and so is Hermione. You better get in there quick before they start snogging again – seems that's all they do these days. I hope they spend more time at Hermione's then at your flat. Otherwise, I'd feel really sorry for you."

Harry laughed, but did not move toward the other room. "Yeah, Ron hasn't been spending much time at our flat, lucky for me. What about you? Are you looking forward to your last year?"

Ginny nodded. "Oh yes, I'm very excited. Ivy asked me to take the same position that Hermione had last year as her assistant. I'll know everything that's going on this year, so I'll be able to tell all of you the gossip."

Harry raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Know anything yet?"

"Actually…" Ginny looked around as if she were making sure that no one was watching. "I do know a couple of things. There's an American who's come to observe Ivy – I mean, Professor Dumbledore – for the year to see how the school is run so he run his own school better. She seems delighted about it, but Rem– er, Professor Lupin seems less than thrilled. Also, Draco Malfoy is going to be Professor Snape's assistant this year because St. Mungo's wanted him to start working."

Harry suddenly felt uneasy. He had never trusted Draco, even after all that the young man had been through in the last year. He had always felt fine with Draco around his friends when he knew that he would also be around to defend them, but the thought of the young Malfoy always being near Ginny without him anywhere nearby made him anxious.

"You let me know if he bothers you, all right?"

Ginny waved a dismissing hand at him. "What, so you can defend my honor? Please, I get enough of that from Ron, and I'm also perfectly capable of taking care of myself, in case you don't remember."

Harry did remember. In many ways, she was the strongest member of her family, completely unafraid and always putting herself out on the frontlines. He worried about her more than anyone in her family simply because of her determination.

"Besides," Ginny began again, interrupting his thoughts as her eyes came slowly back to him, "why would you be so concerned for me in the first place?"

Harry opened his mouth, but had no idea what to say. Luckily, he was saved, as there was another knock on the door.

"Ginny, dear! Will you-"

"I've got it, mum!" Ginny shouted. She turned back to Harry. "You better get in there before the rest of them start piling in."

Harry nodded and slowly backed away as Ginny went to open the door. He walked into the living room where Ron and Hermione were, as predicted, kissing on the couch. Harry cleared his throat obnoxiously.

Ron shot up nervously. "What? We weren't-" When he spotted Harry, he smiled. "Oh, hey Harry. Sorry I left before you, I just wanted to get here a bit early…"

He glanced over at Hermione, who smiled at him before turning to Harry. "Hi, Harry. How are you?"

Harry laughed. "You know, you're the only person who asks me that anymore? I think everyone's afraid of what I'll say, that my scar still flares up or I'm having strange nightmares involving lots of death. But I've been fine. Thanks for asking."

Ron chuckled before looking toward the other room. "Who's coming in now?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know, I didn't come with them."

"Oh, so then it was you who came in earlier."

Harry nodded.

"So who were you taking to, then?"

"Ginny."

Ron glanced at Hermione, who raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. "You know Harry," Ron said, "you should go visit her at Hogwarts. I don't have an excuse, but you could go with Sirius when he goes, and I know she'd appreciate seeing you. 'Cause she was so attached to all of us and everything. I'm sure it would be nice for her."

Harry looked at Ron strangely. "Right…. So, I heard she's Ivy's new assistant."

Hermione smiled. "Isn't it wonderful? I'm so excited for her! I've told her all of the things she can expect on the job and made up another list for her of new duties she might have to take on now that Ivy is headmistress. I believe I was quite thorough-"

Ron snorted. "Really, Hermione, you're out of school now, but you're still concerned with everything that goes on over there. You don't have to worry about it anymore! That's what graduating is for!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, Ronald, just because you've never placed the same value on education that I do doesn't mean that I'm going to stop begin concerned with what others will learn. I'm sorry you don't care about the future of the wizarding world, but-"

"What future? O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts don't determine everything about our future, and neither does my sister being Ivy's assistant!"

"Well, I can't do anything about the fact that you never consider the impact of your decisions, however, I do! And I will always do whatever I can to help them over at Hogwarts because I worry about the students, especially when so many of them take school as lightly as you did! Therefore, I would appreciate if you would stop teasing and pestering me about my habits, because they are my own and nothing you can say or do will change my principles, so you might as well get used to-"

At that moment, Ron pulled Hermione's face to his and kissed her long and soft. Hermione's clenched fists went limp at her sides and her furrowed brow relaxed above her fluttering eyelids. When they pulled apart, Ron kept her face cupped in his hands and his nose an inch away from hers. Hermione kept her eyes closed as if she were waiting for him to come back. Smirking triumphantly, Ron tilted his head toward Harry and said, "I love being able to do that."

Hermione's eyes snapped opened and she slapped Ron's arm and shoved him away, though Harry could tell from her expression that she wasn't really mad.

Ginny stuck her head into the room. "Dinner's ready and everyone's here. You all better get in there."

The three went into the other room where the dining room table was set for fourteen. The entire Weasley family, plus Harry, Hermione, Remus, Ivy, and Sirius, all sat down to a feast of food. Once the greetings were done and everyone had complimented Molly's fantastic cooking, while Molly insisted that Ginny had helped and Ginny shook her head to indicate that she hadn't helped much, everyone started in on dinner and discussions raged.

"So, Ivy, are you excited about this year?"

"Oh, Molly, I really don't know yet. Ask me again in a week."

"So who's this partner of yours that I've been hearing so much about?"

"Oh, no one of concern, Arthur. Just an old classmate who I used to fight with on occasion."

"On occasion? You fought at least once a week for seven years!"

"Yes, thank you, Remus for clarifying that for everyone."

"Did you really help restore his motorbike, Harry?"

"Fred! George! Don't you go asking anymore about that bike! I can't stop you from getting one, but I can tell you that you won't be parking it anywhere near this house! Think of the influence it would have on your sister!"

"Mum!"

"Oh, don't worry, mum, we wouldn't bring it around the house. We'd meet Ginny at Hogsmeade and take her out on it then."

"George!"

"I'm Fred!"

"I'm George!"

"Don't worry yourself, mother, they won't get one. I know they don't seem sensible at times, but even they know that one motorbike between the two of them wouldn't be enough, and two would be a waste of money."

"Oi, get stuffed, Percy!"

"So, Charlie, I heard that you might be bringing a dragon to the school for the seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

"Yeah, it looks that way. I think it's a good idea for them, you never know when you might need to be able to deal with one of them. I'll probably bring one of the smaller ones, don't worry, Hermione. I'm not going to let anyone get hurt."

"Anyway, Bill, how'd you get them to let you off work long enough to come back here?"

"Actually, I'm on the trail of someone who's been passing himself off as a bank employee and trying to get into vaults. He's in England right now, so I though I'd stop by for dinner. Sorry I didn't get to see you graduate – come to think of it, you're the only sibling I haven't seen graduate so far. I'm planning on making it to Ginny's, but you never know with my job lately."

"How's Ollivander's working out for you, Harry?"

"Oh, it's great, Mr. Weasley. He definitely needs the help, and it's an interesting place to work. We get some of the oddest customers imaginable…"

After the plates had been cleared, and just before Mrs. Weasley started getting out dessert, Ron stood up from the table and waited for everyone to quiet down.

"Since we're all here tonight, I though I might as well let you know that last week I asked Miss Hermione Granger to marry me, and she, surprisingly, said yes."

Around the words "asked", "marry", and "yes" there were many collective gasps from the table. Mrs. Weasley promptly began crying, Remus, Ivy, Sirius were beaming, Harry elbowed Ron in the ribs for not telling him earlier, and everyone asked when the date was. Hermione explained that they weren't sure, but that they weren't going to wait very long.

After dinner was over they received many congratulations and everyone started to make their way home or up to their rooms. Hermione sighed in the doorway as the twins left and turned when she felt a touch on her arm. Ron was at her side, staring at her bushy mane of hair fondly.

"Well, they all handled that better than I expected," he said.

"Harry was angry that you hadn't told him."

"Yeah, but I didn't want him to hint it to anyone on accident. Besides, he was only fake angry. Mum's still crying. And Ginny's absolutely thrilled about the fact that you're going to be sisters."

Hermione laughed. "That makes me happy too. I always thought of your family as mine since I had no brothers or sisters."

"I think Harry does too."

"Well, he has even more reason to, without parents or a loving home."

"Makes you wonder about things."

"Don't say anything, Ron. You'll jinx it."

"I won't say a word… except for the fact that I'll think he's an idiot if he doesn't do something about it."

"Give him time, he's still unsure of himself." She turned to face him. "Can we go now?"

"As soon as you kiss me."

"I'll kiss you after you've said goodbye to everyone."

"Damn."

* * *

Well? Did you like? Was it full of fluffiness, and fun, and bickering? Still to come, expect more bickering, developments with Mr. Wilcott (cringe), and an appearance by... Snuffles! Also lots of other fun stuff with... well, everybody... Please review! It makes a Jedi Wizard Hobbit happy especially as she gets ready to go to college and learns to write papers and stories... all over again sigh.


	3. Staircases, Proximity, and Sympathy

**Important Authors Note:** You all have full rights to flay and beat me, and sacrifice me to pagan gods! I want to apologize for how terribly long this took. College is a bit time-consuming. We write lots of papers. All the time. But college is wonderful, and my writing has certainly improved for it, so I think you will be pleased. I will answer a few questions and then leave you to a lovely chapter.

First off, I wanted to put off fears had about another fic of mine that went up recently. No, I have not been writing that fic instead of this. My college roommate and I happen to be the same person and we sort of co-wrote a funny little fic. She actually wrote most of it, but I'm posting it too since it is a crossover, and we wanted it posted in both fandoms. Again, she wrote most of it, I just discussed it with her, etc.

Second, I wanted to address some of the comments everyone had about Ron and Hermione's impending wedding. I know that some of you find it sudden, but it made sense to me. I think that they're both intelligent youngsters, and that they wouldn't want to wait very long. Besides, it moves some thing s along in the plot quite nicely. :)

Since I can't answer each individual review this time (because I wanted to get you this chapter as soon as possible), I will make some general comments to the reactions I received. Good for you all hating Clayton! He is a big jerk, and you will continue to hate him more and more as the story continues, Unfortunately, he is a necessary character, so I can't just drop him off a cliff… yet… I'm also very happy that everyone seems to like Sirius and Guinevere so much. I'm working very hard on their relationship, and I think you will be pleased with how it develops. There is a lot of interesting stuff coming up in this story (it keeps getting more and more complicated), so be on the lookout. I finally got over my lost outline and created another one, so things are getting easier for me.

As per some requests, Singing! will be found in this chapter, with more to come later on. I missed it too :).

And as payment for my extreme tardiness, some smut can be found in this chapter! Hope you like ;) Please keep reviewing! I know you're probably all mad at me for my lateness, but you really make this all worthwhile, and I love to know that you guys are enjoying the story. I've noticed some new reviewers and I hope that they will continue reading and keeping me posted about what you think. I will make an effort to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but keep in mind that college still applies, and delays are inevitable (especially with the new Star Wars movie coming out in a few months… I'm such a hopeless fangirl :). ).

Enjoy my dearies! I will respond to each review for the next chapter, so if you have questions let me know!

* * *

**_Chapter Three – Staircases, Proximity, and Sympathy_**

**THEN** **– **Marauder Fourth Year

"But don't worry about it Little Sister, we won't let that slimeball within an inch of you."

Ivy smiled at Sirius, glad that she was already making friends on her first day. They were a lively bunch to be sure, and Ivy felt right at home. Her father wasn't what people would call energetic, but he was quirky, and so she usually felt more at home with people of… interesting character.

Remus leaned toward Ivy from where he sat to her right. "I should warn you, Sirius can be very calloused toward the perpetrator when it comes to retribution for his friends."

She opened her eyes wide with mock wariness and was rewarded with a smile from him. Remus was quickly becoming her favorite person in the school. Part of it she couldn't even understand. He was certainly kind, funny, and smart, but there was something else about him that she liked. The gentle purr of his voice, the understated smile, the way that something seemed to flicker behind his eyes. Something that suggested that he was hiding a secret from everyone. She wished he would tell her what it was.

She and Remus had probably been looking at each other longer than they had intended because Sirius cleared his throat in a very obnoxious way to get their attention. Ivy prayed that her cheeks would stay colorless – this had never happened to her before.

"So James, when's the next Quidditch match?"

James' chest puffed out ever so slightly, as it always did whenever he talked of his beloved game. "It'll be in two weeks, against Hufflepuff."

Sirius broke into a devilish grin. "Fantastic! You'll flatten them in two minutes. Even if they caught the snitch they'd still lose, what with you as a chaser. You'll score twenty points before they even know what hit them."

Remus looked cautiously at the table beyond James. "Careful, Sirius. The Hufflepuffs are only one table over from us, and you know how easily they get their feelings hurt and jump to defend their pride."

"Oh, cool off your knickers, Remus. Why would we ever be afraid of Hufflepuffs?"

Remus shook his head. Ivy happened to notice a Hufflepuff turn around and glare at Sirius after he made his remark, but she decided not say anything. Remus had caught the glare too, and he and Ivy both looked at each other with stifled grins on their faces.

Suddenly, without warning, the storm hit. The sound of footsteps slamming down the corridor stopped only when a shrill voice shouted, "SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, what could I have possibly done now?" His eyes shifted to the front of the Great Hall, where a pretty, dark-haired girl in a Ravenclaw uniform stood at the doors.

"Oh," Sirius mumbled, now not sounding so surprised.

Ivy looked to Remus and Lily. "Who's that?"

"Guinevere Carnahan," Remus whispered.

Lily leaned forward so she could whisper too. "Sworn enemy of Sirius Black."

"Ooh…" Ivy nodded in understanding, and turned her head back to find the girl stalking over to where Sirius sat. She stood directly behind him, but Sirius kept his back to her, as if he was hoping that by ignoring her she would go away.

"Sirius!" the girl snapped.

Sirius turned around lazily to face her. The action seemed as if it had been done many times before. "Yes, my dear Guinevere?" he drawled in a bored tone.

"If you want to have your own private little war with Severus Snape, that is your own agenda, no matter how immature and foolhardy it may be." Guinevere spoke very quickly with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She sounded like a very disappointed teacher. "But that is no reason for you to make us all do more work!"

Sirius put up one hand to stop her and squinted his eyes at her as if she were too much of an annoyance to look upon. "Slow down, dear Guinevere. What _exactly_ have I done this time?"

Guinevere's nostrils flared. She looked positively furious. "Don't you play dumb and coy with me Sirius Black. That may work for all the other cotton-minded simpletons around here, but it won't work with me. You've completely ruined the Disenchantment Potion we've been working on in class, just to get at Severus!"

Sirius looked genuinely puzzled. "I didn't do that."

Guinevere snorted. "Oh, and I supposed Peeves did it, hm? Or some other easy target that you can blame it on? I went to the dungeons to check on my work and make sure that the potion was simmering properly, and every cauldron in that room was overflowing and had turned bright pink from having iocane powder dumped in them! I know you've targeted Severus for torture today, but I see absolutely no reason for your inconsiderate, juvenile behavior!"

"The only thing that happened to Snape today was that James turned his wand into a carrot!" Sirius exclaimed, his voice rising incredulously. "I have not been to the dungeons today, nor would I ever go there when I'm not absolutely required to, for any reason!"

"Oh, please!" Guinevere shouted in anger, "You did it because you hate him and you hate that class!"

Sirius scoffed and stood up from the table. "Fine! I'm certainly guilty of hating both aforementioned parties! But why would I destroy my own class work? You can't ignore the fact that I do work in that class, dear lady!"

"Ahem," Remus cleared his throat slightly. "Sirius, Guinevere, maybe you should both take some time to calm down and–"

"–Shut up, Remus!" they snapped in unison.

Remus sighed in defeat and slumped his shoulders.

Sirius' head tilted suddenly. "Wait a tick… of course! Snape's the one who did it! He did it to get back at us for his wand. Everyone will think it was us, just like you did, and we'll get detention for it."

Guinevere rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly. You don't think I'm going to fall for that, do you? Severus would never do that. It's his favorite class, why would he ruin it?"

"Because it'll be so easy for him to do the potion again," Sirius explained impatiently. "That class has always been a breeze for him. Smarmy, tricky little wank–"

"– I don't believe you actually expect me to fall for that," Guinevere interrupted. "No matter how intelligent you are you continue to display your completely infantile sensibilities and your fear of true responsibility. You disgust me."

And with that, Guinevere turned and stalked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius thudded back into his seat, his brow wrinkled in anger. James tried to improve his mood with a little playful prodding: "Sirius has a girlfriend, Sirius has a girlfriend…" This eluded to a very base response from Sirius: "Go shag a broomstick, James." James promptly shut up after the assault.

Others from the table had obviously heard the exchange, and were eyeing Sirius with either pity or contempt. One classmate who was sitting several seats down sarcastically commented, "Nice job, Black."

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius replied irately. But many didn't believe him. His reputation was too vast.

The food began to appear for the meal. Sirius took a gulp of his pumpkin juice and slammed the goblet down on the table. "Everyone always believes her," he hissed.

"Well, that's because she's usually right," Lily pointed out. Sirius shot her a glare.

"I didn't do anything. Not a damn bloody thing."

"We know, Sirius," Remus said soothingly. Ivy nodded encouragingly at Sirius to back Remus up.

"Oi, Sirius," James called. Sirius looked over at James, who held his gaze for several seconds. And suddenly, Sirius seemed fine. As if James had said something silently in that gaze that made everything all right again. They were funny that way, their friendship was something unexplainable. The black-haired boy smiled.

"I propose a toast to Ivy, our newest friend and, we hope, comrade in arms." He raised his glass to the girl next to him, and was rewarded with a grin.

Everyone raised their glasses in turn as a new chapter of Marauder history began.

* * *

The next day, as Ivy was meandering back from her last class, she ran into Lily. 

"Hey! You're walking pretty slow. Anything bothering you?"

Ivy shook her head. "No, just thinking to myself. Trying to get used to the castle and everything. I was thinking about doing some exploring to find out where things are. I wanted to send a letter to my dad too."

Lily started leaning in one direction, and beckoning Ivy to follow. "I can take you to the owlery, if you don't know where it is."

"Thank you, that would be great."

Halfway up their first staircase, Lily began talking again. "So, how were your other classes today?"

"They were good."

"I meant to talk to you last night, but you got up and went down to the common room."

"I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep. I was just a little restless, and fires usually make me sleepy, so I went down there." Ivy paused, not sure if she should mention anything else. "Remus came down later, and I talked with him for a bit."

Lily's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Oh, well that's nice, at least you weren't down there all by yourself. What did you talk about?"

Ivy really didn't want to tell Lily about how she'd poured her heart out to this boy who was practically a stranger. She didn't want to talk about her mother again, either. She was certain she couldn't do that. She didn't want to explain to Lily that it had been easier to talk to this gray-eyed young man than it had been to talk to the one dozen different therapists that her mother's family had tried to make her go see after her death. She didn't know how to tell her any of that.

"Oh, nothing important."

Lily took the hint and didn't press further. "What did you think of the rest of the chaps?"

Ivy smiled. "Oh, they're… interesting. James seems like nice guy, you two are very cute. Peter's a bit too shy for me to get much from him. Sirius is… something else."

Lily snorted. "Something else is right. But he's ours and we love him all the same, even when he is a right twat."

"And that argument between him and that Guinevere girl. That was pretty intense."

"Oh, they've been going at it like that since first year," Lily explained exasperatedly. "Everyone thinks that one day they'll curse each other into oblivion. I, however, have always suspected…"

Ivy looked at her hard. "What? Suspected what?"

Lily shrugged. "Well, you've seen the way they fight. You know your Shakespeare?"

Ivy nodded quickly.

"Well, think _Much Ado About Nothing_. Think Benedick and Beatrice. I'd say Kate and Petruchio, but I don't think that's fair or true of Guinevere."

Ivy paused for a moment the landing. "But that would mean that…. Lily, you don't really think that…"

"Sirius is used to things falling right in his lap," Lily clarified. "Everything is easy for him. It would be just like him to fall for the one thing he can't have."

"Well, that may be the deep, underlying psychological truth of the matter, but right now, he seems pretty focused on hating her."

Lily sighed. "Yes, and we'll have to deal with it, one outrageous fight at a time."

They were about to continue on their journey when Ivy chuckled ever so lightly. Lily turned back to her.

"What?"

"It's just…. I agree, they are a lot like Benedick and Beatrice, but the mention of Kate and Petruchio made me think of _Kiss Me, Kate_. You don't know anything about that, do you?"

Lily's eyes gleamed. "The musical? I love musicals! I used to go see them with my family all the time!"

Ivy grinned. "Me too! But you see, now I have this image in my head of Sirius singing _So In Love_. It's pretty funny…"

Lily was holding her sides in laughter. "Oh, that is really funny. Could you imagine?"

Together they both started singing in low melodramatic voices, laughing as they went.

_"Strange dear, but true dear_

_When I'm close to you, dear_

_The stars fill the sky_

_So in love with you am I._

_Even without you_

_My arms fold about you_

_You know darling why-"_

"What _are _you doing?"

Standing at the top of the staircase was none other than Sirius Black. Lily and Ivy smiled to each other before clutching the railings in laughter that caused their whole bodies to shake.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You can play dumb all you want, but I know I heard _Kiss__ Me, Kate_."

Both girls shot up. "What do _you_ know about musicals, Sirius?" Lily asked.

"What do _I_ know?" Sirius pretended to look flabbergasted. "_What do I know?_ Actually, I have a cousin who happens to really like muggles, and she used to steal me away from my parents on weekends, and take me to all sorts of muggle performances, and fairs, and museums. You know, all the good stuff. She was a sucker for hopeless romance stories, so she took me to see that musical more than once."

Needless to say, Ivy and Lily were both surprised and impressed. Lily cleared her throat. "And…?"

"And I have no idea why you would be singing that song on the stairwell," Sirius complained as he walked down to meet them on the landing. "I was always more of a fan of _I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua_."

"Example?" Lily said persuasively.

Sirius, never being one to not take up a challenge, fell back onto on the steps and stuck one leg out in a sprawling posture. With his chin resting lazily on his fist, he proceeded to sing:

_"I would not be disturbed one bit_

_If she be but a quarter-wit,_

_If she only can talk of clo'es_

_While she powders her goddamned nose!_

_I've come to wive it wealthily in Padua!"_

Both girls applauded while laughing hysterically. They shouldn't have been surprised – there was no better showman than Sirius Black.

"You've got a great voice, Sirius," Ivy said appraisingly.

"Why thank you, Little Sister."

"So where were you off to?" Lily questioned.

Sirius shrugged listlessly. "I'm supposed to go get Peter from the library. You know, when he's studying he never checks the time and one of us always has to drag him out of there. Remus is down there with him, but he's useless when it comes to keeping track of time. The only thing that ever makes him aware of it is the moon's pha-"

He stopped short as Lily shot him a glance. Sirius internally cursed at himself. He was already so used to Ivy that he had nearly forgotten that she didn't know about Remus.

Luckily, Ivy had stopped paying attention to Sirius at the mention of Remus's name. "Uh, you know, Sirius, I could go get them from the library if you don't want to."

Sirius exchanged a knowing glance with Lily and nodded. "If you're sure you want to, go ahead."

He had barely finished the sentence before Ivy had begun scampering down the stairs on her way to the library.

After she was gone, Sirius broke into a full-fledged grin. Lily snickered into her hand.

"How long, do you think?"

Sirius motioned for her to join him in climbing back up the stairs. "Oh, don't get your hopes up. Remus is a shy boy, as we all know well."

"But they would be so sweet!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, spare me the girly analysis. Yes, I'm sure they would be quite adorable. That doesn't change the fact that up until Remus met Ivy yesterday, he had never introduced himself to a girl unless James or I did it for him."

"Well, maybe Ivy will be the exception to the rule."

"We hope."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

Lily smiled. "Where's the exception to your rule?"

Sirius shook his head. "Oh, don't ask me that. How should I know? Besides, it's not all that important to me at the moment."

"Well, if you spent less time pulling pranks maybe it would be."

Sirius gasped mockingly. "Then I shall pull pranks till I die!"

Lily laughed as they continued together up the stairs. As they both looked up, they spotted someone they did not expect to see. Regulus Black was rounding the corner with a group of Slytherins, all chatting away furiously. At the sight of Lily and Sirius, they all grew quiet and eyed them harshly.

"Hey, Black," one of them called out, "what would Potter say if he knew that you were carrying on with his mudblood right under his nose?"

Sirius's brow narrowed, but at the touch of Lily's hand on his arm, he stopped himself. "Don't," she whispered. "It's okay, they're just proving their ignorance by resorting to tactics like that."

But Sirius knew that if he were to turn around and look at Lily, the hurt would show on her face. Just because she knew that their comments did not matter did not change the fact that they were painful to hear. And Sirius hated not being able to do anything when his friends were hurting.

He turned his face to his brother, searching for some of that humanity in him. No matter what their parents said to brainwash him whenever they were home, he knew that Regulus was not cruel the way they were. Regulus met his gaze and Sirius caught a flicker of regret, a glimpse of sadness. But his brother quickly turned away. No matter how he felt about what his friends did, he would never stand up to them.

The group grew uncomfortable with Sirius's silence and moved on. He watched his brother go with them down the stairs. Shaking his head, he turned back and started up toward the common room again.

"Sirius, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Lily. There's nothing to talk about."

Tears formed in Lily's eyes as she heard the tone in his voice. He never admitted to the pain he felt where his brother was concerned, but Lily knew. And she wished he would talk to her about it because she understood. She knew what it felt like to have that sibling bond dissolved.

"Wait for me!" she called, catching up to him. "So what are you guys planning on doing tonight?"

Sirius smirked in spite of himself. "We're probably going to flood a bathroom or turn every Slytherins hair pink – you know, our usual standard of wickedness."

Lily smiled. "Think you could spare the night for me and Ivy instead? We could play a game or something."

"For you, dear lady? Anything." He thought better of his words after a short pause. "Provided that it doesn't involve homework."

Lily laughed and followed him to the common room door.

**NOW**

Remus had gotten everything in order for his first classes and he was quite proud of himself. Normally the start of school was associated with scrambling to make last minute course changes and checking to be sure all the correct materials were in stock. Remus had two days before the term started, and absolutely nothing left to do. So he thought he would stop by and see Ivy, since he was sure she was still up to her neck in ridiculous paperwork.

As he opened the door to the office, however, he was met with the sound of an unpleasant, twanging voice and the ring of his wife's laughter. Remus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Nothing had ever pushed his instincts into overdrive as quickly as that man's voice.

"Well, from the looks of it, Mr. Wilcott, you're a quick enough learner that you won't have to stay on the entire school year after all."

"Oh, then I'll have to find a reason to stay to make sure that I don't miss the pleasure of your wonderful company, ma'am. And I told you, please call me Clayton. It doesn't seem right for us not to be on first name terms."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Well, Clayton, if there's nothing else-"

"Actually, there is, Ivy. I was wondering if you'd-"

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Remus said in a voice louder than he had meant to. He didn't like where their conversation had been going.

Ivy looked up and smiled at her husband, setting her quill aside. "No, not at all." She blinked as Remus maneuvered to her side of the desk and leaned in to give her a soft kiss. While Ivy found it a pleasant surprise, Remus felt it was necessary, especially when he could feel the other man's eyes burning into the back of his head.

He allowed himself a brief moment to take in Ivy's closed eyes and the tip-tilted smile that the contact had caused, before straightening up and turning his head to take in Clayton with a look of mock discovery. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break anything up, I hope you're finished. I just thought that I might get her alone for lunch, since the term is starting soon."

Clayton smiled, though his eyes held an angry glimmer. He stood up from his chair on the other side of the desk. "Not at all, I understand. After all, once the term starts it'll probably be hard for you to find time. Ivy'll undoubtedly be so busy teaching me the ropes around here that you'll barely see her."

Remus's eyes narrowed, but Ivy merely laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that you will do just fine, Mr. Wilcott."

Clayton snatched up her quill from the desk without warning and brushed her nose with it playfully. "Mr. Wilcott? Ivy…"

Ivy snatched the quill from him, grinning. "Clayton."

He winked at her. "Right."

And without even glancing at Remus, he turned around and walked out.

Remus watched the man leave, his eyes glaring more sharply than Professor McGonagall's when she was faced with misbehaving students. Ivy stood up from her desk and started arranging some papers. Then she moved to walk behind Remus, but before doing so, she went up behind him and placed a kiss on the back of his shoulder. Remus had almost forgotten that she was there, as his thoughts had gotten lost in how he was going to handle the new intruder that had broken through the walls of their impermeable castle. Instincts taking hold again, he grabbed Ivy roughly by the arm and pulled her around to him, kissing her again, but this time fiercely. She gladly obliged him, going limp in his arms, but when he pulled away she sensed something out of place.

"What's wrong?"

The hard look that had developed in Remus's eyes faded, replaced with one far more docile and unreadable. "Nothing. I'm fine."

Ivy flinched almost imperceptibly and he knew that, like always, he had not fooled her. And she was not happy about it.

She reached her hands up to knead his shoulders, and he found his neck tilting to the side of its own accord. He sighed into her touch.

"No, you're not. You've been tense the past couple days. I can tell."

"Really?" Remus said sedately, not willing to give her anything else to work with. "What makes you say that?"

I can feel it whenever you're around. Even in bed." She glanced down in a bashful way that made Remus feel guilty. She still got nervous whenever she brought up anything that happened between them privately, part of her still remembering how he used to close down when they were younger. "I woke up last night and scooted closer to you because I was cold. You were so rigid. Your back was stiff as a board and you didn't move at all when I got nearer. I was worried."

Remus sighed. He wasn't about to let her know what had raised his hackles, but he felt bad that even his body language was betraying him while he slept. He didn't want her to worry, she had enough on her mind.

"I just keep thinking about how little I'll see you when the students start to arrive. I'm not looking forward to that."

Ivy knew that he still wasn't being completely honest with her, but she decided not to press the issue. She started rubbing his shoulders again, hoping that he would relax. "Remus, it's not like I'll suddenly be gone. I'll just be more busy during the day, maybe have to spend some nights up. It won't be that terrible."

Remus's eyes closed this time as her fingers eased the knots in his shoulders. A shot ran down his spine as he suddenly felt her breath close to his neck. He kept his eyes closed, tried to stop thinking about what was bothering him so he could focus on that feeling. Her lips pressed into his neck over his pulse point, something she had learned from him, and now found herself doing all the time for the tantalizing reactions it created.

Her efforts were not in vain as she felt his body unwind. His breath hitched and she felt a light purring sound start in the back of his throat.

"My, my…. It's pretty far from the full moon yet," she said laughingly. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Remus groaned lightly and rolled his eyes at her comment. He abruptly grabbed hold of her wrists that rested at the back of his neck and yanked them forward so that her body was pressed tightly against his. "Don't… tease…" he whispered throatily, his lips, twisted in a pitiless smile, hovering a mere centimeter from her own.

Ivy knew better than to toy with him when she was warned, no matter how playful he seemed. Especially when he gave her that dizzying stare that made her feel like an inexperienced schoolgirl. She laced her fingers through his hair in an effort to bring him closer. He obliged only slightly, letting his lips brush lightly over hers again and again in a maddening way that made her whimper as if they had never kissed before.

Remus pulled back enough to grin at his handy work. He heard her blood beginning to rush to all the appropriate places, her eyelids fluttering rapidly as her knees began to shake. Remus backed her up into the desk so that she could lean on it for support, and gave it no further thought as he brought his lips crashing back down on hers, feeling her gasp into his mouth. Having the air sucked from his lungs by those warm, trembling lips sent his mind into a hazy overdrive as he inhaled the aroma of their mingling scents. His teeth grazed her bottom lip sharply, eliciting a soft cry from her, and he chuckled quietly as he slipped his hands past the folds of her robe on an impatient quest to find and touch skin.

Ivy suddenly put her hands up to stop him, wrenching her mouth away. "Remus!" she scolded in a shaky voice. She pointed around at the walls. "The portraits!"

He smiled at her exasperation, amused at how they had switched roles. He was supposed to be the paranoid one, not her. He glanced up at the walls and suppressed a snort. Ivy followed his gaze, noticing that every single figure in each portrait was fast asleep, which was quite normal for the old men. She looked back to him sheepishly, now feeling silly for stopping the delicious assault on her sanity.

"I guess it would be pretty hard to wake them up," she said, leaning back against the desk coyly, willing her head to stop spinning.

He grinned slyly, leaning forward so that his chest was pressing into hers, his lips next to her ear. He placed a hand on either side of the desk so she couldn't slip away, enjoying the feeling of her chest rising and falling against him faster by the second from the close contact.

"Not if I make you scream," he whispered devilishly.

Ivy shivered as those words hit the base of her spine and shot back up, the electricity spreading to her fingertips so that she had no choice but to tug him back from her ear and slide her tongue between his lips, wanting to taste the mouth that uttered such sinful, honeyed words.

Remus picked her up and placed her easily on the desk, amazed at the new sense of adventure they had both accidentally found. His lips found her neck this time and he began to trail down the smooth expanse feverishly until-

"Headmistress!"

A figure came bursting into the room, black robes billowing behind him. Ivy let out an, "Oh God!" and jumped off the desk quickly, spinning around and attempting to compose herself. Remus pulled away from her swiftly and backed into the corner of the room. Many of the portraits around the room snorted awake as Severus Snape came charging into the office.

Snape was not as blind and dumb as they had hoped, though. He had caught an unfortunate glimpse of what had been occurring between the Headmistress and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and was feeling profoundly disturbed. His eyes shifted back and forth accusingly, his expression clearly showing disgust. Ivy flinched under the stare, while Remus grabbed a book from a nearby shelf and attempted to flip through it in an interested way. He thanked the heavens that he was wearing a robe over his normal clothing, knowing if he hadn't been that things would have gotten horribly uncomfortable very fast. As if they weren't enough already.

"If you prefer, I could return at another time, Headmistress."

"No! That's a… that's quite all right, Severus," Ivy attempted rather pathetically, tucking strands of disheveled hair behind her ears. "What did you need?"

"I need to talk to you about Mr. Malfoy. He's having some… difficulties."

Ivy blinked in surprise. "You're having a problem with him?"

Snape looked insulted. "No, Headmistress, I just have a feeling that he would be more inclined to work if the person who was officially responsible for him explained to him the seriousness of his situation. He doesn't seem to realize that he truly has nowhere else to go."

Ivy sighed. "Very well, Severus, I will speak to him after dinner tonight. But I can't keep doing this all year."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "I assure you, Headmistress, you won't have to. After you speak to him, he will have to deal with me. And it will not be very pleasant."

Ivy understood. He wanted her to speak to Draco because he was worried about losing his temper with the young man. If Ivy could reach him without threats, he would be spared a verbal beating from his former Potions Professor.

"All right. I'll try, but I can't make any promises. He never respected me much as a teacher, so I doubt that he'll pay me any mind now. Is that all?"

Snape's eyes shifted again, taking in Remus, who was still trying to be as unassuming as possible in the corner. "Yes, that is all, Headmistress." He gave a curt nod and excused himself from the office.

Remus set the book down and walked back to Ivy as she placed both her hands on her desk and dropped her head. He placed a hand on her back, rubbing in gentle, broad circles to ease the tension that had flared up at their being caught going at it like two over-enthusiastic teenagers.

Ivy eventually relaxed enough to emit a short laugh. "Well, let's hope that never happens again. Otherwise I'll never be able to look him in the eye as long as I live."

"Could've been worse," Remus said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"How?"

"Could've been a student."

Ivy shuddered. "Or Sirius."

Remus's eyes widened at the thought. "Yes, that would've been terrible."

Ivy turned around to face him. She placed a hand on his chest, fingering the buttons on his shirt, a distant look in her eyes. "What now?"

Remus placed a hand over the fingers resting on his buttons. "Keep going," he said softly, placing his free hand on her back and pulling her close again. Something at the back of his head told him that he wasn't being his usual rational self, but at moment he was too upset at the fact that they had been interrupted to care.

Ivy didn't seem to care either as she began undoing the buttons at an unhurried rate, her fingers caressing as she came into contact freshly uncovered skin. Remus placed his head in the crook of her neck, sucking gently at the tender flesh, eliciting the occasional soft whimper from her.

"Maybe next time we should just keep at it and see if he leaves," Ivy suggested breathlessly.

"Mm," was the only sound Remus could manage in response, his tongue now sweeping lightly over her collarbone.

The flap of wings brought his head up, and they both peered at Ivy's desk to find an owl sitting impatiently with a letter attached to its leg. Ivy groaned and dropped her forehead to Remus's chest. He laughed and took the letter from the owl, nodding in thanks. The animal gave him an indignant stare, but left all the same. Remus glanced over the letter, looking for the sender.

"It's from the Ministry."

Ivy sighed. "Not our day, is it?

"Apparently not."

"I'm sorry."

Remus placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to his. "It's okay." He leaned down and gave her a lingering kiss, wishing with all his heart that they were upstairs in the comfort of their own room. "It's something I'll have to get used to."

Ivy rolled her eyes agitatedly. "Don't say that." She placed a hand on his cheek, and he brought his hand up to cover hers. "Wait up for me tonight?"

"Of course," he exhaled, turning his head and kissing her palm. "Till dawn, if I must."

She smiled at him as he broke reluctantly from her and walked to the door. He gave one last glance back, watching her settle back down to her desk to read the letter, and stepped out.

* * *

Guinevere peered around the partition to find Sirius still going through the debriefing of their latest case. Since she realized that they should be going soon, she cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up at her somberly. 

"You almost done? We should get out of here soon."

He nodded and pushed the parchment away from him to indicate that he was finished. "Are we Apparating?"

"Yes, but to a safe point. Since these people are muggles, we can't just show up on their doorstep."

Sirius pointed to the debriefing. "It says that the mother has a witch aunt."

Guinevere leaned against the partition. "I talked that over with Codger. It's true, but it also seems that she'd never made her husband aware of that particular aspect in her family. He's not taking it well, apparently. We have to be careful with this family."

Sirius sighed. "He's so young."

Guinevere winced. She normally made a point not to think of such things. It hurt her concentration. "Most of them are. There's really nothing for it. They're young, they wander out into the woods on some dare. It happens."

Sirius tried not to think badly of her for her harsh words. He realized that after years of working in this field she probably had made herself numb to allow her to deal with the people she helped. But Sirius could not be like her. He had too much firsthand experience. He knew what this did to people.

"Well, I'm ready to go when you are," he said, getting up from his desk and putting on his jacket.

Guinevere stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm to transport them both, as he didn't know where they were going. The cubicle area faded out and soon they were standing in an alley behind what appeared to be a restaurant. Guinevere hastily let go of Sirius and glanced around.

"This way."

Sirius followed her out into the street, walking past swarms of people in transit from one place to another. They made their way into a nice neighborhood full of picket fences and flower gardens. There was a wood close by and a stream running through it. A playground was situated near the edge of the wood.

"The Ministry should keep a better watch on this place," he mumbled in a hushed voice. "This is an extremely risky setup for werewolf activity."

Guinevere glanced around to make sure that no one was within earshot. "The Ministry has a habit of ignoring traps like this. Their department in that area has never been up to snuff. They have no profitable reason to care about it, so they tend to overlook a lot of problem areas until there are enough complaints. And unfortunately, since muggles don't know about werewolves they can't find someone who can supply the new counter potion soon enough if someone gets bitten, so you get lots of victims in places like this."

They reached a good-sized brick residents at the end of the block. Guinevere rang the doorbell and waited patiently. She still had a hard time looking over and seeing Sirius Black standing next to her instead of her former partner. But she was thankful that they weren't fighting anymore, to say the least. As long as she could still do her job, she'd put up with anyone for a partner.

The door opened and a tall man with blond, combed back hair answered the door. His eyes were narrowed and he took them both in carefully before stepping aside and allowing them in. "We've been expecting you," he said shortly. "My wife said that you'd be coming."

Guinevere held out her hand to the man. "Yes, Mr. Walden. I'm Guinevere Carnahan and this is my partner, Sirius Black. We're here to make this as easy for all of you as possible, and we will do all within our power to make sure that your son can lead a normal life."

Mr. Walden did not accept Guinevere's outstretched hand. Instead, he motioned them both into a sitting room. Sirius and Guinevere made their way into two winged back chairs that were situated across from a plush sofa.

"We have guests, Amy," Mr. Walden called down the hall. They heard a bustle from what sounded like a kitchen, and footsteps in the hallway.

A woman came in carrying a tray of tea. She set it down on the coffee table in front of them and sat down on the sofa. Mr. Walden joined her a moment later.

"So you're from the Ministry?" asked Mrs. Walden.

"Yes, we are, Mrs. Walden," Guinevere offered. "We've come to answer your questions and help you with anything you might be worried about."

Mrs. Walden reached over and grabbed hold of her husband's hand, seeming to need something to anchor her. "Well, I wouldn't really know where to begin. This all happened so fast, and it hasn't really soaked in yet. Thank God Aunt Mildred knew what the bite was, or we might have never known, and Charlie would have…"

The woman bowed her head. Mr. Walden, however, had seemed very upset at the mention of his wife's aunt, and looked agitated. "Why didn't we know about this?" he burst out. "How could something like this happen? Don't you people have rules or something that keep monsters like that from attacking people? Especially innocent children?"

Sirius felt his temper rise at the man's referral to werewolves as monsters, but he kept himself in check and allowed Guinevere to do the talking, since she seemed comfortable enough handling it.

"I understand your anger, Mr. Walden, but please understand that it is impossible for the Ministry to keep tabs on every werewolf in the country. It is very hard to know where each of them are, as many bite incidents aren't even reported."

"Why don't they mark them, brand them or something?" Mr. Walden spat out angrily. "There's got to be some way that you can tell them apart from normal people."

Sirius was about to yell at the man when he heard something outside the room. It sounded like it was coming from the stairs. He listened carefully as Guinevere continued on in her very professional and controlled manner.

"Mr. Walden, it would be extremely unfair to these people to force them to be marked for all to see. They receive a great deal of hostility by many in our world, so it is understandable that they prefer to be anonymous."

"Unfair!"

"Leonard, please calm down."

"I will not calm down, Amy! Our boy could have been spared this if these people could keep better track of these freaks of nature!"

"Mr. Walden," Guinevere interrupted smoothly, "your son is now just like those 'freaks', as you were referring to them. I don't think that he would take kindly to hearing you call them that."

"My son," Mr. Walden hissed, "is nothing like those animals."

Sirius turned back, aware of where the conversation had turned. With all the charge he could muster, he jumped in before Guinevere. "Mr. Walden, they are not animals. They are people, just like you and me. Unfortunately, if they are not well cared for, they can have difficulties and disasters can happen. But it is no fault of theirs. Your son will likely be supplied with Wolfsbane Potion, but-"

"With what?" Mrs. Walden interrupted.

Guinevere explained the Wolfsbane Potion to them as succinctly as possible. When they both understood what she was saying, Mr. Walden appeared to be even more furious.

"You mean there's a way to stop these people from going crazy? Then why don't they all get this miracle potion of yours?"

"Many cannot afford it and don't have the means or connections to request it," Guinevere clarified. "Some do not take it in time. Which brings me to my next point: it will be difficult to get your son the Wolfsbane Potion in time for the next full moon. Apothecaries have been backed up recently in this country as people have started to stock up on the ingredients. He will probably have to undergo his first transformation without it."

Mrs. Walden's eyes began to shimmer this. "My poor baby," she whispered. "How hard will it be for him?"

Guinevere paused. She was at a loss for what to say. Sirius jumped in for her. "It depends," he said gently. "Some transformations can be worse than others. What you need to do is try to make him as comfortable as possible. And don't scare him – he's going to have a hard enough time grasping this as it is."

He heard shuffling outside the room again. He didn't want to sit and listen anymore. "Mrs. Walden, would you mind if I took a look around? I'd like to see if maybe I can find suitable facilities for your son when the time comes."

Mr. Walden looked like he wanted to protest, but Mrs. Walden jumped in before he got the chance. "Yes, please."

Guinevere shot him an inquisitive look, which he ignored as he excused himself from the room. Walking out, he caught a figure trying to race up the stairs out of sight.

"Hey," called out quietly. The figure stopped and turned around to face him. He was a sweet looking boy with alert blue eyes and sandy hair like his mothers. _He's only seven year old_, Sirius thought agonizingly. He tried to recompose himself, sitting down on the stairs and motioning toward the boy with one hand. "Come on, sit down, I'm not going to snap at you."

The boy came down the stairs tentatively, his eyes never leaving Sirius, as he wasn't sure he trusted him yet. _He's already getting the werewolves instincts_, Sirius marveled._ But he doesn't know what to make of them yet because he's too young to understand it._

Eventually the boy found something in Sirius's eyes. He didn't know what it was, but it was something that made his brain think _safe_. Slowly, he sat down next to Sirius on the stair.

The boy looked at him for a long minute without saying a word. Sirius stared right back, being sure not to blink. He knew this exchange.

"The book said that I would tear myself apart," he finally said, bowing his head.

"What book?" Sirius asked.

The boy reached behind them and pulled up a loose plank in one of the stairs to reveal a hiding place. He pulled a book out that bore the title _Werewolves! And Other Fantastical Monsters._ He flipped the book open to a page and showed Sirius. It was a very advanced book with fine print and graphic pictures. Sirius fought back the urge to wince at a very graphic portrait showing a werewolf clawing at his own stomach.

"You can read this?" he asked, more than a little impressed.

The boy nodded. "Mum taught me how when I was three."

"Wow, three?" Sirius gasped. He was truly awed, but he made an even bigger deal of it in hopes that the boy would open up more.

The boy seemed unmoved. He glanced back down at the book instead. "Is it true?"

Sirius sighed heavily. "Without the Wolfsbane Potion it will be difficult."

"And I heard your friend say that I won't get it this time."

Sirius almost laughed at the boy's referral to Guinevere as his friend, but he stopped himself. "We're not entirely sure of that yet. There's still a chance."

"But it's not very likely." The boy played with the hem of his shirt and stared nervously at the floor. Sirius fought against the wave of nostalgia that was choking him. The advanced book, the alert eyes, the soft mouth, the pale complexion. All the boy needed was a few claw marks and thick bandages, and Sirius would find himself in the hospital wing his first year at Hogwarts. The year when they hadn't know what was wrong.

_"Remus?__ My God, what happened to you! They said you were sick-"_

_"I'm fine, Sirius. I just got a little too close to the Forbidden Forest when I was doing class work. It was just some stray, wild dog or something."_

_"Wild, stray dog? Remus you've been torn to shreds!"_

_"It's okay, Sirius. It's not as bad as it looks. Please, just go away. I can handle it."_

_"Remus, I'm not leaving."_

_"… Well, if your planning on staying here, you should at least make yourself useful."_

_"How?__ What do you need?"_

_"Would you mind handing me that book?"_

Sirius shook himself from the memory and stared at the small boy next to him. Without thinking, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy looked up, startled, but relaxed quickly.

"You're going to be fine. I know it seems like a lot now, but you-"

"Are they going to lock me up somewhere?"

Sirius paused carefully. "Who said that?"

"My aunt said something about the Werewolf Registry."

The infamous Werewolf Registry. Sirius had wondered when they would be coming into this conversation. "The Werewolf Registry doesn't have the power to make you do anything. Just keep away from them as much as possible. Only go in when you're required to and don't talk to anyone for very long." He thought about it for a moment, and then another thought hit him. "If you'd like, I might be able to get a friend of mine to go with you the first time you have to go. He's a werewolf too, he knows how to handle these people."

The boy blinked up at him, surprised. "You have a friend who's a werewolf?"

Sirius smiled. "Yes, I do. His name is Remus. He teaches at the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry."

The boy was stunned. "They let him teach there?"

"Yes, they allowed him to because he's an excellent teacher and his students loved him. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."

The boy tried to digest the information. "So wouldn't that mean that he would be teaching people to defend themselves against him?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Sirius replied. "But he's happy there. His wife is the Headmistress of the school."

"He's married?"

"Yes, quite happily married, in fact. To a very wonderful woman, who adores him."

The boy stared off into the distance. "I thought that no one from your world would be willing to speak to people like us."

"Some of them aren't. You just have to be careful, and you'll eventually meet some who are."

"Do I have to choose a world?"

Sirius blinked quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"My mum said that she thought it might be easier for me to live in the wizarding world, but my aunt said that I shouldn't."

Sirius placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. "It depends. The wizarding world can be hostile to your kind sometimes. But people from the muggle world – your world – think that you're mythical creatures, and it would be much harder for them to come to terms with it. But you have a lot of time to make that decision. Don't worry about it now."

"Do you know anything about the transformation?" the boy asked tentatively.

Sirius stopped, unsure of how he should answer that question. "I do."

"How bad does it hurt?"

"I really can't say. It's different for everyone, and I've never been through it myself."

"What did your friend say about it?"

Sirius cringed. Remus was rarely descriptive about the pain of his transformations, only bringing it up when Sirius had pushed him and made him angry. "The hardest thing is the changing of your bone structure. Expect that to hurt the most, and don't do anything very physical on the few days preceding the full moon."

"Should I be chained up?"

Sirius shook his head vigorously. "No, I would not recommend that. Especially not for a first transformation. Your mind is going to have a difficult enough time adjusting to its new state. If you chain yourself up, the wolf side of you will be very confused, and you will probably do more damage to yourself than you would have without them."

"The wolf side of me?"

Sirius took a moment, trying to figure out how best to explain to the little boy. "You will find that your instincts will get sharper and your senses too. An inherently animalistic side of you will come to the surface in your daily life – you won't be threatened by it, it will simply be there lurking at the corners of your mind. You will find that the wolf has its own mind in a way. But it cannot control you. It may scare you sometimes, but you must remember that. You are not dangerous because of it."

The boy nodded slowly, trying to digest what he been told. Sirius tried to show that he understood. The boy's life would never be the same, but Sirius wanted him to know that the new life ahead of him didn't have to be full of suffering.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" he found himself asking.

"I like to read."

"Well, then," Sirius began. "I know it will probably be too hard for you to concentrate the first time, but before your transformations, I would recommend that you take out one of your favorite books and read for hours. Just let it relax you. Don't even think about the moon. You'll wake up the next morning a little sore, but you won't feel so tense."

"What does your friend do?"

Sirius grinned. "He reads too."

The boy smiled back for the first time.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a throat clearing. Both of them glanced up to find Guinevere and Mr. and Mrs. Walden standing in the hall watching them. Mrs. Walden was smiling warmly at Sirius. Guinevere seemed shocked, but didn't say anything. Mr. Walden eyed Sirius and his son with cold approval.

"We have to leave now," Guinevere managed. She seemed to be having a hard time observing Sirius Black doing anything that she would consider compassionate.

"All right," Sirius said with a nod, standing up and walking toward the door. The little boy followed after him.

"Will you come to see me again?" the boy asked when Sirius had reached the door.

Sirius turned around and gave him his prize-winning grin. "Of course I will. And I'll come soon too, I promise."

The boy took another step toward Sirius, reluctant to see him go. "And can I meet your friend?"

"Sure. Maybe if we can get your mum and dad's permission, they'll even let me take you to the school where he works."

The boy turned his head instantly to his mother. Mrs. Walden beamed at her son, then at Sirius. "I'm sure we can work something out."

The boy looked back to Sirius and reached out his hand. "My name's Charlie."

Sirius took the boy's hand and squeezed it firmly. "I'm Sirius."

The boy blinked quizzically. "Really? That's your name?"

"Yeah," Sirius said while rolling his eyes. "Parents had a thing for stars. My brother's name was Regulus."

The boy smiled a second time.

"Run into the kitchen, Charlie. I left a snack for you on the table," Mrs. Walden said.

Charlie nodded, but turned back to Sirius first. "Bye."

"Bye, Charlie."

Mrs. Walden saw them both out. Before Sirius was completely out the door, however, she grabbed hold of his hand. "Thank you," she whispered.

Sirius nodded. "He's a great kid. He's going to be fine, Mrs. Walden."

Mrs. Walden gave him a kiss on the cheek before retreating into the house.

Sirius caught up to Guinevere, who was already close to the gate of the house. "What happens now?" he asked her.

Guinevere sighed. "Now we file the paperwork to try and get him the Wolfsbane Potion." She paused for a moment, wondering if she dared say what else was on her mind. "You shouldn't have made that promise."

Sirius blinked at her, following close as they started to make their way back to the alley where they'd arrived. "Why's that?"

"You don't know if we'll be required to go back and see them. You shouldn't have told him that you would."

"Guinevere, if work doesn't allow it, I'll go see him on my own free time."

She snorted. "Really?"

Sirius's felt his eyes narrowing at her sarcasm. "Yes, really."

"Are you going to do that for every werewolf we get assigned to?"

Sirius stopped at a street corner and grabbed Guinevere by the shoulder, turning her around to face him. "Okay, I'd like to know what I did this time to get you pissier than a dog in heat."

She put her hands on her hips and proceeded to lecture him in a way that gave Sirius an alarming sense of déjà vu. "You can't simply go around making friends with all of these people. There are a lot of them, Black. Eventually you'll let one of them down."

Sirius raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her. "My, aren't we being a bit melodramatic."

She sneered at him and turned to walk away, but he stepped in front of her. "What is this really about? Is it just because I got him to trust me so fast? I got him to trust me even though you don't?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

He grabbed her arm as she tried to get past him again. "Then what is it? Why is everything that I do wrong to you?"

"I don't know!" she finally shouted. Sirius abruptly let go of her. "I don't know, all right! Maybe I want to understand why everyone seems to fall in love with you immediately no matter what you do, and why I'm always the one who's wary about everything you say. Maybe I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong with me, okay?" She paused for a long moment, taking a deep breath. "Or maybe I just hate you and can't get past that feeling. But I'm trying, so you're just going to have to take what I can give you. I'm sorry."

Sirius took a moment to let her words soak in before nodding curtly. "Fine," he said sharply, turning to start back toward their arrival point.

She started walking again, now trying to keep up with his pace. After a minute of very uncomfortable silence, she managed to find the courage to speak again. "I am really sorry. I don't make a lot of sense, I know."

He snorted.

She winced, trying to stop the high-handed, rude retort that had already formed in her head to defend herself. "I'm just not used to… people really."

"I noticed," he bit back harshly. Something in the way she averted her gaze made him regret the way he had responded. "What do you do on the weekends, Guinevere?"

She looked at him strangely. "I… I sit at home and read a lot. Sometimes I go shopping."

"For what?"

"Food. Clothes when I need them."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"Of course I have friends," she shot back, trying not to sound insulted.

"No, I didn't mean-" Sirius took another deep breath to calm himself. "What I mean is, don't you have someone to do things with? Someone to visit?"

She didn't like where the conversation was going. "No, not really. I've always been very self-sufficient. I can take care of myself."

"People need to be around other people," Sirius said softly. "Doesn't it bother you that you spend so much time alone?"

"No," she responded resolutely. "I've always done fine on my own."

"And it doesn't bother you in the slightest?"

"No!" she snapped. "Now, I really don't want to pursue this discussion any further. I'd appreciate it if you left me alone and kept your nose out of my personal affairs."

Sirius hissed out a breath. "All right. Whatever you want."

They walked in silence all the way back to the alley, each lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Ivy knocked on one of the doors in the dungeons. Normally she would be expecting an uninterested drawl to greet her, but on this particular occasion she was not looking for the Potions Professor. One of the rooms near the Potions classroom had been converted for the Potions Professor's new assistant, and it was him that she needed to speak with. 

The door opened a crack. Two piercing eyes stared out. The door opened all the way.

"Have I done something wrong already, Headmistress?"

The way he hissed 'Headmistress' gave Ivy a very clear warning that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation, but she had promised Severus, so she dove in.

"I've been told that you don't want to work."

Draco scowled. "This is not a job for the member of a pureblood family."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You're really going to have to get over that one Draco. Very few people really care about that anymore. And it's not like you have many options open to you at this point."

"I don't want to be here."

Ivy nodded. "All right then, leave."

Draco's thin brow furrowed at her response.

Ivy motioned down the hall. "Go ahead. No one's stopping you. This isn't a prison, and I'm not a warden. If you want to leave you're free to at any time. But before you go, you might want to consider where you'll go, what you'll do, and who will take care of you."

Draco's eyes slowly found the floor, though they remained narrowed in anger.

"Doesn't sound quite so appealing now, does it?" Ivy said quietly. "You need to realize, Draco, there are few options left to you. My suggestion is that you take what you can get at this point, because at the moment there is a great deal of hostility toward family members of Death Eaters."

Draco flinched almost imperceptibly. But he was never one to take a lecture on the shoulder, and he cut Ivy off before she could continue. "They have no right to treat me that way. I am not responsible for my father's actions. They cannot judge me by what he did."

"And you shouldn't judge people either, but you do, Draco. Whether or not it's right has nothing to do with it. It simply is. Take it or leave it. But I can guarantee you that many people would kill to be working this closely with Professor Snape for an entire year. He's very well known in his field for a reason. You could learn a lot from him."

Draco sneered in indifference. Ivy sighed. "Draco, I really don't care about what you want. You made some bad choices and bad things happened. I can't change that. I'd like to know that you had some sort of direction in your life, but I don't think you really know who you are anymore." Draco was about to cut Ivy off again, but she didn't let him. "Say what you like, but I don't. And I think that this is a good opportunity for you to figure that out. The job isn't that difficult, and if you could get past your own ridiculous pride, you have a lot to gain from this situation. Make a decision, and let me know before the start of term. Goodnight."

Ivy walked away without giving the young man a chance to retaliate. She didn't feel up to the challenge. Satisfied that she had completed all of her duties for the day, she made her way back up to her rooms.

She reached the door and opened it quietly, hoping to surprise Remus when she sneaked into their bedroom. Instead, she found him on the couch in front of the fireplace, the glow from the flames haloing his light brown hair with a ring of soft golden light.

"You stayed awake," she marveled.

He rubbed his eyes and looked back at her. "Yes, in spite of everything."

She moved around the couch and sat down next to him. He had his legs folded underneath him, and she did the same, leaning against him and running her fingers lightly through his hair. "You're not too tired, are you?"

He shook his head and gave her a small smile, bringing his arm around to rest at her hip. "So how did your discussion with Draco go?"

Ivy groaned. "Oh, I don't want to talk about him. I don't want to talk about anything I did today."

His smile grew. "Then how are we supposed to turn into one of those boring old married couples people keep telling us about?"

She brushed a fingertip down the side of his face and he closed his eyes briefly at the sensation. "Life with you, Remus Lupin, could never be boring."

"Are you sure?" He maneuvered suddenly so that he was lying on his back with his legs stretched out, and pulled her down so that she was resting on top of him. "I'm not exactly the wild party type."

Ivy raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not? Could've fooled me after that display in my office this afternoon."

"That was… a momentary lapse in my self-control."

She grinned. "You should have more of them. I know how important your self-control is to you, but I don't really give a damn about it."

Remus felt her hands beginning to weave their way down his body, and he fought back the urge to reciprocate, knowing that once he did she would have a hard time speaking. "You mean you actually wanted me to keep going in there?"

"I think I communicated that pretty well."

"In a place where anyone could've come walking in like that?"

"Why not? I thought it was pretty funny. Not when it happened, but in retrospect."

He gave a short laugh. "What an odd little creature you are."

She smiled. "Hm, yes, very odd."

She sought out his lips and claimed them for her own, branding him gently as she felt his body shift beneath hers. But she also noticed that his response was not exactly of the intensity she had been hoping for. She pulled back and stared at him.

"You're tired."

He sighed sadly. "Just a little. I'm sorry."

She gave him her typical quirky smile. "It's okay. Sleep." She got herself comfortable on top of him and laid her head on his chest.

Remus was quickly drifting off, feeling the warmth that her body radiated, a warmth that told him that he was home. "Love you," he murmured softly.

"Love you too."

* * *

How was that, everyone? Did you like? I hope so. Let me know how it went and I will give you all chocolate Padfoots and Moonys. ;) 


	4. Hostility, Silliness, and Siblings

Disclaimer: Yada, yada, blah, blah, SNORK! … Just seeing if you were paying attention :)

**DEATHLY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE:** This one was not my fault! One of my beta-readers readily admits to being the one who messed up here! I got this chapter to her months ago and it took her forever to get it back to me. She says that she's very sorry and begs all of you for forgiveness. She was thinking about writing a note herself, but that got too complicated.

Wow, this fic is so AU now. I hope that everyone will keep reading despite how completely wrong it is.

No, I will not stop writing this puppy until it's finished. That promise remains. And I've actually been writing much faster now. My muse has been in overdrive lately. So new chapters (as in more than one new chapter) are already being beta-ed, and shouldn't take long to post (provided that my betas don't die on me again – and yes, it is that important for them to beta otherwise the story would be full of glaring errors that make my brain hurt).

I've been thrilled with all the wonderful reviews you guys leave and continually thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so supportive. You guys make this worth writing, and for that I can't thank you enough. I only hope that I haven't lost some of you due to how long these past few updates have taken.

Now, onto review responses (yes, you get them this time because I had the time and wanted to talk back to all of you lovely people – the story broke 100 reviews with only 3 chapters, which means you guys rock and I am indebted to you forever!). If I didn't respond to your review than I blame my computer for sucking and apologize very much. Just know that I love you all and I love you even more when you share your thoughts about the story with me. -

vamperfly: Here's your chocolate:) And a chapter! I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story! And the next update will come much faster.

SchnugsAllAround: Hey LonelySilverWolf! Yes, the chocolate Moony's make my eyes go wide too:) I hope you don't choke on kisses over this update! But they will come faster now, so you will have less reason to choke. Yeah, poor Ivy. She's clueless sometimes. It is unfortunately one of her built-in character flaws that even annoys me when I'm writing her (and boy does she get a talking to from me after this chapter… silly girl that she is). I'm glad you like Draco, and I hope you'll like him in this chapter too. And I'm ecstatic that you're liking Sirius and Guinevere because I have way too much fun writing them. Now, read and enjoy!

Sirius-Ella: Yes, Guinevere needs some cracking. But don't worry, Sirius is just the one to do it. It will just take some time… and some important back story, of course ;) I'm glad that you like the chapter, and I apologize so much that this one took so long, but as I explained in the author's note, this time it wasn't my fault, and now the chapters will come a lot faster! Now, go have fun with this chapter!

LadyLupinLover: I hope you find this update soon! I'm sorry it took so long, but you still get a chocolate Moony:) I'm glad you're liking Sirius and Gwen, as I love them. Yeah, Sirius is definitely the one I would have accused too. Unfortunately, Wilcott sticks around much longer than I even want him there. He's kind of important in that terrible way. Silly Ivy and her character flaws. Well, I promised that she would never be a Mary Sue, and her cluelessness is one the things that prevents that… she just doesn't get it sometimes – but we still love her! You will see Charlie again. You will also see Draco again (sorry!). But I was good – it didn't take two years like you predicted ;) Now, read and tell me if the chapter is to your liking!

MackenzieW: Yay, fellow college-goer! See, you know the deal. And yes, Clayton is definitely ew gross… yucky Clayton… Hope you like this chapter!

Brielle Lupin: Sorry it took so long! I always feel bad when you have to wait, I really do:) But new chapters will come faster now! And sorry about making you have to look up imperceptibly… it's funny when you use one word a lot and don't notice it. And I'm glad you liked the cuteness of the closing scene. I hope you like this chapter :)

Rotae: I'm so flattered that you think I write Remus well:) And of course, I'm glad you like my OCs, as I work very hard to make them real characters, and not silly Mary Sues. Now, go read, and I hope you enjoy!

LOTRMoonyFanatic: I'm sorry this chapter took so long! College is a big change, but new chapters are coming much faster now, I promise. I'm so glad that you like Sirius and Gwen, because of course, I love them and writing them. They're so much fun. And I'm happy that you like little Charlie too:) Yeah, Clayton definitely supposed to make you squirm. He's icky… And smut is always happy giggle But here's the next chapter – read and enjoy! (and let me know how you like it, of course)

Padfootluvr21: nope, as I promised, I will never give up on this story, it's too ingrained in my being and needs to be written or it will drive me crazy. And now the chapters will come faster, which will hopefully make everyone happy:) Be on the lookout for Remus' self-control giving him more problems. He's fun like that:) And I'm you're liking Sirius, Gwen and Charlie. I love the three of them, so it's nice to hear that people like them too. And don't worry, Charlie will meet Remus eventually. Thanks so much for your lovely review, and I hope you like this chapter!

Jess Pallas: Thank you so much! I'm so glad that you're enjoying everything. Yes, bless the jealous Remus. He's a silly boy. And Clayton is definitely not worth being jealous of, you're right. And Charlie is very sad, but you will see more of him! I hope you like the next chapter:) Read and enjoy!

HarrypotterFreak1234: I consider myself very cursed, and apologize profusely. But as I said in the author's note this time, quicker updates are coming! Yay! You're very perceptive about Clayton, but I can't tell you what his real deal is… you sneaky reader, you ;) Unfortunately, no Ginny/Draco going on here. It was going to be Harry/Ginny even before book 6 came out. But hopefully you'll like where all that goes:) Now, do your homework, don't get in trouble on my behalf! But still read and I hope you like!

sgurierly donought: I know, I'm sorry about the wait. And I have been writing much faster, this time it was my beta who failed me (as mentioned in this chapters author's note). Quicker updates are coming! I'm glad you like Remus and Ivy as their special to me, of course  Read and enjoy!

Chii: So you're the one who's been trying to steal my brain! I knew it! ARG! But really, I'm so flattered beyond belief:) And I'm glad you think that I write Remus realistic, I always want to make sure that people think that. And I'm glad that you're liking Sirius and Gwen, because I love those two. They're silly and fun. There will past sections in this story, don't worry. As for the action, it comes later in this story, but don't worry, it's definitely going to be some intense stuff. All planned out already. It makes me sad just thinking about it. Have I got you curious enough now? ;) Now read and have fun!

BookCrazee68: Here's your update! Sorry it took so long looks very sheepish But they won't take this long anymore. I'm so glad that you liked the singing! There will be more, just for you! Keep reading Sirius and Gwen – they get more interesting… And I'm glad you love Remus and Ivy, as that was my intention all along. And Charlie will meet Remus, never fear. Now, read your brand new chapter!

Titou Moony: Yeah, that office scene was fun to write… ;) Glad that you like the cuteness between Remus and Ivy. They are my precious babies in a weird way. Now, read and enjoy!

Daughtermoon: I apologize so much for the wait, but as you can see from the author's note, now everything will go much faster now. And I'm glad that you still like the story – I'm a firm believer that you can like both slash and het. I read both a lot. It's just fun to see the different ways that the characters can interact. So keep reading! I hope you like this chapter and keep reviewing :)

sol: Thank you so much! I don't think I can take so much flattery  And, of course, I'm glad you like the office scene (though I hope that no one at the office thought something strange was going on – silly people at work, not understanding that reading fanfic during the day makes everything much more interesting). I had a lot of fun writing that bit ;) I'm sorry the chapter took so long, but I hope you'll enjoy it!

BlueFeather11: Thank you so much for your lovely comments. I always look forward to hearing what you have to say about a chapter. College is good and fun, and hopefully will be this year too. And updates will be faster! I promise! I happy that you enjoyed Sirius singing. He will be singing in upcoming chapters too, just as a forewarning. And I'm glad that you like the way Jealous-Remus is written, as his jealous twin is important in the story ;) And any time people tell me that they enjoy Remus and Ivy I feel that this story was worth writing, so thank you for that. Now, read and enjoy!

elbows n knees: Oooo! Good question! I haven't brought that up yet, have I? Shame on me! Thanks for reminding me, though:) I hope you like the next chapter!

Taym G: I'm always so impressed that people reread Echoes. It's flattering and amazing to me at the same time. As for your theory – you're right that Clayton has something else going on, but I'm not gonna say what. Better to keep you guessing – that's the way JKR does it, so I better take a cue from her here ;) (And I promise that I didn't let my schoolwork suffer, and chapters will come faster now) Now read and let me know what you think of Clayton the further it goes along – I want to see if you'll figure it out!

Jen: Thank you so much, I'm so glad that you love it. I hope this next chapter lives up to your expectations :)

Moni: I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story. As for Remus-Clayton-Ivy situations… stay tuned for another startling update! ;)

Radiant: Wow, I'm so glad that you've found the story and are enjoying it and the sequel. As for your feelings on Sirius and Guinevere – you are absolutely right in every way. And don't worry, I have no intention of letting them stop arguing and messing with each other; after all, that's part of what makes them so great together. They will fight forever, the only difference as time goes on is that they will start to love every minute of it ;) I hope you enjoy this chapter (it's nice and long just like the rest), and I'm so glad that you reviewed to tell me what you think!

Amber Magic: Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad that it keeps getting better! And I love Remus too, so I'm happy that you love him. Why are people named Clayton always evil? Hehe, well, I decided that I wanted a soap opera name for him, and that was the slimiest one that I felt worked for the character. So there you go ;) JSC would be hilarious for singing! I want to write an entire fic just for them doing that now. Remus should be Jesus, and Sirius should be Pilate, and Ivy would have to be Mary Magdalene, of course. And Snape should be King Herod. Just because it would be completely ridiculous and so funny that I'd wet my pants. clears throat Anyway… now go read and enjoy!

deathbycookie15: I'm glad that you liked the section with Sirius and Charlie. It was very important to me that it came out right in that section, and judging from what you said, it looks like you got just the right things out of it. Yes, Sirius is a sweetie (but shh! Don't spread it around, he doesn't want anyone to know!). I hope you like this chapter as well!

abesapien: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you've found both of the stories and are enjoying them! Now read on, and I hope you continue to like it!

TheMysteriousPhoenix: Thanks so much! I'm glad that you now have a penname, and I'm impressed and much too flattered by the fact that you have read Echoes more than once:) Yay, Jekyll and Hyde medley! I love that show so much, it's silly. As for Guinevere, you're right about there being more to her, and it will begin to unravel as the story goes on. I hope you like were it goes. Clayton is definitely a character that you should love to hate, and I'm glad that you find Harry the Bartender as hilarious as I do. It just needed to happen. Sorry, the chapter took so long, but they will come faster now, I promise. Now read and let me know if this chapter lives up to you expectations (if you're not up to your ears in college work, of course – I know how that goes)!

Now, onto chapter four!

* * *

_**Chapter Four – Hostility, Silliness, and Siblings**_

Sirius couldn't understand why Remus was so upset. It just wasn't like him.

He and Harry had decided to drop by since it was the first Saturday of the school year, and they though that Remus and Ivy might enjoy having some friends around. They had been met with an unexpected scene. Ivy was nowhere to be found and Remus was pacing back and forth in his office like a caged tiger.

Harry had gone off to look around, though Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that he wanted to find a certain Weasley, so that left him with the restless werewolf.

"What do you think?"

Sirius then realized that Remus had been talking to him for a good five minutes and he had managed to miss most of what was said. He had an idea of what was going on, though, and he took that moment to voice his opinion.

"I think you're overreacting."

"How can you say that?" Remus huffed. "The man is a complete snake, Sirius! I don't know how I'm going to stand an entire year of him in this castle. Especially with how close he'll be to Ivy all the time…"

"Oh, come off it, Remus," Sirius laughed. "How could you possibly be worried about Ivy? She would never do anything to make you upset, and she certainly isn't in danger of falling for that idiot-"

"I know, Sirius. I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about what he'll do."

Sirius put up a hand to stop the next tirade. "I need to understand. What exactly is he doing, Remus?"

Remus took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye. "He's hitting on my wife."

Sirius burst out laughing.

"Sirius, I'm not joking."

Sirius tried to compose himself, but it was just too difficult. "Oh, Remus, out of all the possible things you could have said, that was the last-"

Remus couldn't take it any longer. He grabbed Sirius by the arm and dragged him out of the office.

"Remus, what are you doing?" Sirius exclaimed, trying to wrench himself free of the werewolf's firm grip.

"Just come with me and you'll see."

He let go of Sirius, but Sirius followed, now insatiably curious to know what had made his ever-rational friend so edgy. They rounded many corners in the castle before going outside to one of the greenhouses used for Herbology class. Remus pointed at something inside the glasses structure and Sirius's eyes followed.

Inside, he saw Ivy with a man he didn't know. He assumed this was the Texan that Remus had been ranting about. Sirius immediately noticed that the man was strikingly handsome, even in a way that he could appreciate. Ivy was showing him around the greenhouse, pointing out different plants and herbs that were used in classes. The man followed close behind her, leaning over her shoulder when she showed him something specific. Sirius could hear some of what was said inside.

"I would advise you not to touch that one, Clayton. It's very beautiful, but it's also very dangerous. One of the most poisonous flowers in Europe, actually."

The young man looked amazed, but Sirius did not find the expression particularly sincere. "You mean you let your students handle these? You must place a lotta faith in them."

"Well, I should think so. That's the only way this school can be run efficiently. I have to trust the students. When you trust them you'll find that they can handle a lot more responsibility than you think they can."

Clayton flashed his winning smile. "You're just full a wisdom, aren't you? Must be the Dumbledore side, right?"

Ivy laughed lightly, her mind beginning to travel someplace else. "Oh, my mother had a wisdom that was all her own too. She was very special."

"Of course. I didn't mean to suggest that she wasn't. You'll have ta tell me 'bout your family sometime. Must have been a wonderful group a people to be raised by. Nice, normal upbringing."

Ivy laughed again, this time breaking out of her haze. "My childhood was many things, Clayton, but normal was not one of them." She cleared her throat quietly and looked back at the greenery. "Now, where was I?"

"You were talkin' 'bout that beautiful…" Clayton trailed off for a moment, looking at Ivy distractedly. "I'm sorry, but you have a leaf in your hair, I hope you don't mind if I…"

Ivy shook her head as Clayton painstakingly removed the leaf from her hair as gently as he could, combing out strands with his fingers as he did so. When he had finally managed his task, he held the leaf an inch from her nose. "There we are. Got 'em."

"Thank you." Ivy smiled and motioned for Clayton to continue following.

Sirius looked back at Remus after a moment. His friend had his eyes narrowed at the other male in the greenhouse, and Sirius could tell by the look of the muscles in his face and neck that his jaw was clenched tightly. Remus then noticed on his periphery that Sirius was no longer watching, and turned his gaze on him.

"Well?" he asked sharply.

Sirius looked back to the greenhouse with bewilderment and after a long shrug, came out with his verdict. "He is… definitely hitting on your wife."

"You see?" Remus hissed loudly. Sirius had the presence of mind to drag Remus out of sight and earshot of the greenhouse before allowing him to continue. "I'm not making it up! And he's been around her all week. My students think I've gone completely bezerk, they can't understand why I'm so on edge this year. And he's going to be here all year! I don't know what to do."

A thought occurred to Sirius. "Remus, how has this been affecting you?"

Remus looked at him incredulously. "I would think that would be pretty obvious, Sirius!"

Sirius shook his head at Remus, indicating that his friend didn't understand. "No, I don't mean your agitation, I mean… your instincts."

Remus stiffened immediately, as he always had at the mentioning of that other part of himself. The part that needed constant surveillance and control. "I've been..." he struggled to find the right word, "…testy."

Sirius gave him a look that told Remus he wasn't buying it. The werewolf sat down on the low stone wall that encircled the courtyard they stood in. "Why do you need to know, Padfoot?"

At the plead of his old nickname, Sirius raised an eyebrow. Remus had always been very specific about the use of their Marauder names, even when they were younger. He only used them on two occasions: when he was in a jesting and easy-going mood or when he needed them. Badly.

Sirius sat down next to him carefully, his face showing how ready he was to listen. How many times had they sat just like this? "Tell me, Remus."

Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. The action made him look suddenly younger, his earlier, more apprehensive body language returning and reminding Sirius of a lost young man, who was always insecure about something.

"The sight of him, the sound of his voice," Remus began slowly, "It unhinges me."

Sirius realized the gravity of how Remus had worded that simple statement. "How?"

"I can't relax when he's nearby. My instincts snap to the front of my mind as if I have to be aware of every move he makes, even though I don't understand why. His voice sounds like nails scraping down a chalkboard in my ears. And when he's near Ivy…"

Sirius felt bad for what he was about to ask, but he knew it was important to say it. "Remus, you don't think you'd ever…" However, he couldn't finish the question for the life of him.

Remus understood. "Of course not, Sirius. I'd never harm him, you know how careful I am about how I handle myself. But I do find myself acting more aggressive around him. And it's branching into other aspects of my personality. Ivy's certainly noticed, but she doesn't know what's causing it."

The smallest of smiles was tugging at the corners of Sirius's mouth, but he kept himself in check. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Remus rolled his eyes, praying that Sirius would have enough heart not to use this against him at that particular moment. "I've gotten a bit forceful… very forceful. Severus walked in on us last week in her office."

"Her office?" Sirius exclaimed. He wanted so badly to tease his friend, but the fact that Remus was sharing the information meant that it must have been bothering him a great deal, so he didn't push it. "Snape must've been a bit shocked."

Remus pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows for a moment. "To say the least."

The same question kept worrying Sirius, though. "But Ivy's okay with it? She's not upset, doesn't get scared of the aggressiveness factor?"

Remus gave a short laugh. "No…. No, she seems to find it intriguing. Very intriguing."

Sirius nodded. But there was something in his eyes that Remus didn't like. "I would never hurt her, Sirius. You know that, don't you?"

Sirius almost winced at the question. Of course he knew that. But the brain comes up with images of its own, regardless of how good an acquaintance, how close a friend, how intimate a lover. And Sirius hated that small, weak part of his brain that suggested to him that Remus was even minutely capable of that kind of violence toward someone he loved so dearly. He truly hated himself for that.

Looking back up at his friend with clear eyes, he said, "I know you would never hurt her. Of course, I do."

Remus took a breath at the assurance and then started in again. "It's just hard because I can't tell her. She thinks he's wonderful and that he'll be a big help." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "What am I going to do?"

Sirius sighed and made a conscious decision to take control of the situation. "Well, for starters, you're not going to overreact to anything that happens. You're going to be calm about this whole thing, and you're going to handle everything this bloke throws at you with your normal amount of eloquence and gentility."

"But Sirius, that's not going to work. Not when I have the solemn urge to rip out his throat every time I see him."

Sirius grinned. "Haven't you learned anything about how to manipulate people in all the time you spent with me and James?"

"No, actually, I was spending most of my time trying to keep you two out of detention."

Sirius waved a hand, brushing the side remark away. "If you show him how he makes you feel, he'll know he has a hold on you. That's the worse thing you can do. Just smile and look like you are as oblivious to the whole thing as Ivy is. He won't know what to do with that."

Remus shook his head and passed a hand over his eyes. "If you say so."

Sirius nodded. "I do. Now, let's go catch up with those two again."

Remus blinked and straightened up. "Why?"

Sirius's eyes sparkled with unabashed mirth. "Because I think Mr. Wilcott should be introduced to Ivy's big brother."

Remus wasn't quite sure whether or not he should be worried, and he didn't really have the strength to argue, so he followed Sirius back toward the greenhouses. Ivy and Clayton were just leaving the greenhouse, laughing at some amusing thing that one or the other had said. Sirius didn't wait to judge what would be the best moment to drop in, he simply rushed to Ivy and swept her up in a hug, twirling her around so that her feet dangled in midair.

Ivy giggled, immediately knowing it was who it was. Remus smiled, glad to see his wife and best friend laughing and playing, and feeling a certain amount of safety in having the two of them close by. He almost winced as he realized what a primal impulse that was on his part, and knowing full well who had triggered it. He then watched as the look on Clayton's face fell considerably, now that he had to vie for Ivy's attention.

Sirius placed a hand at Ivy's back, took her right hand in his left, and dipped her dramatically. Ivy shrieked a bit, not expecting it, but she still laughed, amused at Sirius's constant unpredictability. "How's my dear Little Sister?" he asked jovially.

"She's fine, Sirius," Ivy assured him. She caught Clayton's confused look out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, Clayton, allow me to introduce-"

"Sirius Black." Sirius had stepped in for Ivy and offered his hand to the man in front of him. When Clayton accepted his hand, Sirius squeezed tightly on his fingers, enjoying the way the man pressed his lips together in discomfort from the shot of dull pain.

But the Texan recovered remarkably quickly. "Clayton Lee Wilcott is the name, Mr. Black…. Now, wait a minute – you aren't that convict fella from Azkaban, are ya?" He seemed to revel in the way that Sirius winced at the mention of the prison. "My God, I had no idea that y'all were such good friends!" He turned to Ivy, still flashing his blue ribbon smile. "How'd you ever become friends with the likes a him?"

It sounded like a question asked in jest rather than insidiousness, and so Ivy had no trouble offering an answer. "We all went to school together here."

"That right? Well, hot damn, missy! You sure do keep some interesting company."

Ivy smiled good-naturedly while Remus and Sirius glared. Sirius quickly turned the look off when Clayton rounded on him, and Remus ducked his head so Ivy wouldn't notice his piercing stare. "Now, you just gotta tell me about that Azkaban place. Is it really as bad as they say? How did you survive that for so many years?"

Everything he said was meant to sound like an innocent inquiry, but Sirius knew within seconds that Remus's suspicions about the bubbly Texan were not unfounded at all. This man had known who Sirius was the instant he approached, and he certainly knew about Azkaban. He just wanted to jab at the "convict's" barely healed wounds. Sirius wasn't in the mood to play.

"Oh, you know," Sirius began coolly, "I survived by drinking the blood of rodents and cutting open their stomachs, allowing the placement of their inner organs to tell me the future. And I bribed the guards constantly. With sex. They called me Femme Fatale Black back there. I was the prison favorite."

Clayton looked floored for a brief moment, but then Sirius cracked an unfeeling grin, and Clayton returned the look with ease.

"You gotta go easy on me with tall tales like that, Mr. Black! I'm just a country boy; my ways are simple and I haven't seen a lot in my lifetime. I'm a man of the land."

"Hm… simple, yes," Sirius drawled, keeping his expression genial so that Ivy wouldn't sense the underlying conflict and get worried. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, Mr. Wilcott, but I'm afraid that I have to cut your time with this fabulous headmistress short, as I did come all the way from Hogsmeade to see her."

Clayton looked like he wanted to protest, but he held his tongue, looking instead to Ivy for the true verdict.

"You'll have to excuse me, Clayton. We can pick this up another time."

Clayton deflated slightly, but he kept his smile in place. "Of course, Ivy. I can't wait to continue." With those words and a wink, he departed for another area of the castle.

Remus felt filthy after being in that man's presence, but he decided that a bath wasn't what he needed to shake off the feeling of dirt and grime. Instead, he stepped over to Ivy and caught her bottom lip between his own. Ivy's lips parted unconsciously, and Remus took full advantage of her blunder.

"How are you?" he finally managed to ask, many long moments later.

"Fine," she breathed, at a loss to explain why every man in the general vicinity felt the need to touch her today. _Must be the weather or something…. I hope Severus doesn't show up…_

"I missed you," he said softly, taking Ivy's hands in his own and pinning them to her lower back as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "And I've had to handle Sirius all this time with you being gone."

"Hm…" Ivy hummed seductively, tilting her head up and beckoning Remus's lips back with her eyes. "I'm so sorry, that must've been terrible…"

Sirius cleared his throat obnoxiously. "I'm still here, you know, I can hear you talking about me. However, if you want me to leave, I can, I suppose."

Remus forced himself to really think about the fact that Sirius was still there, something which he had been willing to overlook in the past minute. It wasn't like him to be so unconcerned about Sirius seeing him and Ivy being… intimate in any way. He needed to spend some real time thinking about how he was going to deal with this shift in his person. If it was so easy for him to make mistakes like that, then he would have to increase the control he kept on himself. Ivy was bound to notice, but he had no choice. He couldn't allow Clayton's presence to undermine his life.

Remus stepped back from Ivy, releasing her hands. Ivy didn't seem upset, but she tipped her head quizzically at him. "No, of course we don't want you to leave, Sirius."

Ivy turned to him. "Did anyone else come with you?"

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, Harry's here."

"What's he doing wandering around?" Ivy asked, a twinkle in her eye.

"Don't know, you'd have to ask him. I told him he had to be back to have lunch with us."

Ivy elbowed him. "Oh, Sirius, you didn't have to do that. He doesn't have to eat lunch with us if he doesn't want to. I'm sure it makes him feel awkward-"

"Oh, that's ridiculous!" Sirius retorted. "We're family, the lot of us. He doesn't feel awkward, I'd be able to tell. He's just a little shy is all. You'd be too if everyone always wanted you to talk about yourself."

"Point taken," Ivy relented, as she began heading upstairs with the two men in tow. "How's work coming, then?"

Sirius sighed, putting a hand to the back of his neck and rubbing. "Oh, slowly. Guinevere really hates me. I mean, she _hates_ me. I'm not used to being so profoundly hated by someone that I spend so much time with."

"She'll come around," Ivy suggested hopefully.

"Maybe. If I started giving her sedatives and erased her memory."

"Come on now," Ivy laughed, "Isn't there anything you like about the job?"

Sirius nodded instantly. "Yeah, I really like talking to these people. We had a case with a werewolf bite recently. I actually want Remus to meet him."

Sirius turned his gaze upon his friend, who shook his head enthusiastically. "Absolutely. Just tell me when."

Sirius smiled. "Good. He really needs the support. He doesn't know what to do about this whole thing and he's really scared. He's only seven years old and he's a muggle."

Ivy's eyes shot to Remus, knowing how this was going to affect him. Remus winced and pressed his lips together. "Seven… damn. Being a muggle makes this so much worse for him too. I don't know what I would have done if I had been a muggle. The Werewolf Registry really takes advantage of the muggles as well."

"I thought maybe you could go with him the first time to make sure that no one pulls anything funny on him. I know how they can be."

"Yeah, I know. I'd be happy to go with him."

Sirius felt much lighter all of a sudden, knowing that Charlie would get a friend. "I'll give you all the details later. You'll like the kid. He's a lot like you."

Remus smiled and continued following Sirius upstairs.

* * *

Harry had only gone along because he felt that Sirius needed the company. After all, it certainly didn't do him any good to be hanging around the castle like those older kids he had always seen hanging around the public schools near the Dursleys. The ones who had no life after school, so they could only stay near their old stomping grounds. Harry certainly wasn't that kind of person.

He'd just gone because he knew that Sirius could use the company. Of course, Sirius did have friends, but Harry knew that his godfather liked having him around. They had so much lost time that they needed to catch up on.

And then there was the fact that Ron had asked him to visit Ginny. Harry thought that was a good idea. Most of her friends had been older than her, and Harry was sure that she missed them. So he had been wandering the castle for the past half hour, trying to find her. He'd checked the Gryffindor common room, the library, the owlery, and the dining hall, but she was no where to be found. He gave up and decided to take a walk outside.

That was where he found her. She was sitting under a tree in one of the numerous courtyards with a pile of books, her robe providing a blanket underneath her as it was far too hot to be wearing it. Harry walked around the tree so that he could approach her from behind. When he got close enough, he tried to make out a few of the words in the book that she was reading.

_But as the blood splattered out over the table it became clear that the curse over the hallowed ground had not been lifted…_

"That doesn't look like school reading," he quipped as he crouched down beside her.

The redhead jolted slightly at the closeness of the voice, then whipped around to face him. "Harry?"

When she had indeed confirmed who the voice belonged to, she shrieked and threw her arms around him, knocking Harry back into the tree. "Oh, I'm so glad you came to visit! I've missed you all so much around here. I've got no one to bail me out of class when I'm having a bad day."

Harry tried to regain his composure at the unexpected rush of affection. "You're having bad days already?"

Ginny rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Snape is worse than ever this year. I think he's upset that he doesn't have you and Ron to torture anymore."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like Snape. I guess some things will never change."

She nodded. "But being Ivy's assistant has been fun so far."

"You're assistant to the headmistress of one of the finest schools of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, and you're having… fun?"

Ginny giggled at his confusion. "Yeah, she's really great to spend time with. You should talk to her more often. And Remus too. You know, they both love you like family."

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I know. It's just strange for me. I'm not used to the idea of family yet. Just Sirius. And he's something to handle all on his own."

She laughed, but still managed to address his deflection. "You've always had family, Harry. My family has been yours since the day you and Ron met."

"I know. And it means more than you can imagine, believe me. I'm just not good at figuring out all of that. Who I should be close to, and all that stuff. It took me so long to figure out where I belonged."

Ginny's eyes shone with sympathy, which made Harry more uncomfortable than the conversation itself. He changed the subject. "So, what's that book you were reading?"

She picked the book up from the grass where it had fallen. "Oh no, you made me lose my page!"

"I did?" Harry exclaimed. "You're the one who jumped on top of me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have snuck up on me!"

"That had nothing to do with you dropping the book!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!" he shouted one final time before grabbing Ginny by the waist and beginning to tickle her into submission. She gasped and screamed and squirmed, but she made no real move to get away. The whole scene was a flurry of limbs and laughter and youth. One simple moment in time where nothing really existed at all, except for that buckling feeling in your sides.

"Harry!"

"What?"

"Stop it!"

"Why?"

"Because I can't breathe!"

"Sure you can, or you wouldn't be talking!"

That made her laugh harder and she collapsed into chest.

And suddenly, Harry felt like a weight had been lifted. He had never been free to do things like this in his childhood. The Dursleys considered such behavior to be lowly, and he'd had no real friends before Hogwarts. But this young woman, his best friend's little sister, had always had the power to bring out that side of him, that side that had never been nourished. And he didn't know how to tell her that.

He finally let her go, watching as she leaned back against the tree to catch her breath. Her cheeks had turned pink and her hairline was damp from the struggle. And in that instant, Harry could tell that she had nothing else on her mind. No worries about tomorrow, no fear of possibilities, no philosophizing on why life worked the way it did. He envied her. She would have to teach that to him some time.

"So…" she heaved, still fighting to find air, "what really brought you out here?"

"I came with Sirius," he explained nonchalantly. She leaned forward, and Harry began to pick bits of tree bark from her hair, which had latched on while she had leaned against the trunk. She smiled as he did this, watching his hands thread through the tangled mass around her head.

"My God, I think I just might vomit."

Harry stopped cold. He knew that voice.

And soon a head of white blonde hair emerged to go with it. Draco sneered at the two under the tree and looked down on them with maddening superiority.

"Shove off, Malfoy," Harry snarled.

"Or what, Potter?" he drawled. "I'm the one who works here. You shouldn't really be on this campus, after all. Unless you have some official business here?"

Harry scowled. This was the last person he had wanted to see. The young Malfoy's presence made his skin crawl.

Draco smiled and let his eyes graze over the sight of him and Ginny. "I thought not."

"Nothing I do is any of your business, Malfoy." Harry didn't believe what everyone had said about Malfoy's troubles. He still knew malicious intent when it was aimed right at him, and he wasn't going to put up with it. He wasn't an underage wizard any longer.

"Perhaps I should make it my business, Potter," he scoffed. "After all, you were in the process of defiling a student, were you not? It really seemed that you were about three seconds short of ripping her clothes off. If any of your former professors knew that, I'm sure they'd be most unhappy."

He felt Ginny's hand on his arm, a silent diffuser to his rising temper. But unfortunately, Harry was not in the mood to play games. Not anymore, not with this snake. It didn't matter who Draco had helped in the war. Malfoy had always been on his own personal side, out to help himself. And then and there, the thought of that made Harry furious.

He launched forward, grabbing Draco by the throat, while his other hand took his wand from his pocket and pointed it right between the towhead's eyes.

But Draco wasn't afraid. Nor was he angry.

"Do it."

Harry blinked. _What did he say?_

"Do it, Potter. Bloody coward that you are. Go on."

Draco's eyes were not haughty anymore. They were pleading. And Harry realized that there was something about this man that he didn't know.

"Harry – " came Ginny's hesitant voice.

He lowered his wand and let go of Malfoy's neck. "It's all right," he told her. He reached out to help her up, and gathered a few of her books for her. Placing a hand on her back, he silently started leading her away.

Draco stood there and watched them. Still livid, as always.

When they reached the edge of the courtyard, Ginny whispered, "What was that all about?"

Harry shook his head, angry with his own lack of answers. "I wish I knew." He suddenly remembered a promise. "I'm supposed to meet Sirius and all of them for lunch. Want to come?"

She looked apprehensive, but Harry blinked beseechingly. "Okay."

As they left, Harry could hear Draco's voice. The young man didn't have to shout for his parting words to be heard.

"Bloody coward."

* * *

Friday again. Sirius stood outside Guinevere's door, waiting to summon up the strength it took to knock on the door. Work had been fairly peaceable the past day or so, and he knew that meant that it was about time for him to screw up again. In her eyes, at least.

_Maybe I could tell her that I knocked but no one answered. I could probably knock quietly enough to make that true…_

Taking a final deep breath, he drew up his fingers and rapped swiftly on the door.

A few moments later, the door opened, but Guinevere was not on the other side. Instead, it was a man around Sirius' age. He was tall, but thin-framed, with dark thick hair and sea green eyes. Sirius eyed the man suspiciously. Why wouldn't Guinevere have told him that she had a date?

"Come on in," the man said in a friendly manner. "We've been expecting you."

"Really?" Sirius drawled.

"Yeah." The man paused. "You are Sirius Black, aren't you?"

This left Sirius even more puzzled. "Yes, I am."

"Well, then get in here!"

Sirius stepped inside while the other shouted, "Gwen, he's here!"

Sirius heard a sizzling sound from the kitchen that sounded like someone getting burned, a brief curse, and the clack of shoes. Guinevere appeared, in her apron once more, looking very apologetic.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you, but he just dropped in earlier today. He has a habit of coming by without letting me know. Thinks it's cute surprising me, or something. I hope you don't mind if he joins us for dinner."

Sirius backed toward the door. "Look, if I'm interrupting something, I'd just as soon not be in the way."

"Interrupting?" Guinevere looked confused. She turned on the other man. "Wait, you did introduce yourself, didn't you?"

The other man smiled. "No, I actually sort of forgot that."

Guinevere hissed out through her teeth in annoyance. "Of course not." With the wooden serving spoon in her hand, she gestured back and forth between the two of them as she made the introduction herself.

"Bruce, this is Sirius Black, my new partner at work. Sirius, this is Bruce Carnahan, my brother."

Bruce held out his hand to Sirius. "_Twin_ brother," he clarified.

Sirius took the man's hand, now feeling rather silly for his earlier assumption. True, he had only recently learned that Guinevere had siblings, but the two had the same hair and build, and though their eyes were different colors, they were the same shape. _But wait…_

"Twins?" Sirius questioned. "Where did you go to school?"

Bruce's chest puffed out a little. "Buxton's Private Academy For Boys."

Sirius blinked quizzically. "I don't – "

"Sirius," Guinevere began, "Bruce is a muggle. Our father was a wizard and our mother was a muggle. I got all the abilities."

"Wish she'd handed some over to me," Bruce said jokingly. "I hated the fact that she got to go to a wizarding school while I was forced to study algebra."

Sirius smiled. "That wasn't very fair of her," he agreed.

Guinevere seemed relieved at Sirius's reaction. She stepped back toward the kitchen. "Well, you two talk about something that amuses you. I have to finish dinner."

As she disappeared, Bruce's eyes turned back to Sirius with kind interest. "So you're her new partner."

Sirius was a little nervous about where this conversation could go, especially when he didn't know what Guinevere had told her brother about him. "Yeah, I'm the new experiment."

"So how's that going for you?"

Sirius paused.

Bruce laughed. "Don't worry about what you tell me, I'm not the blabbing type. And as a close member of the family, I know what a pain in the arse she can be."

Sirius cracked a smile. "Yes, she can be that."

Bruce folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall. "I admit, I was shocked when she told me that you were partners. I remember the stories she would come home with about that horrible boy in that other house who made her life a living hell."

"Sure she wasn't talking about Severus Snape?" Sirius inquired jokingly.

"Nah, couldn't be," Bruce retorted assuredly. "I've met that Snape character before, and he doesn't fit the description. One of the things that Gwen always hated the most about that horrible boy from school, was that she claimed that he was too good-looking to be kind. Snape's not the kind of person who strikes me as devilishly handsome. Not to mention the fact that your name isn't exactly a forgettable one."

Sirius chuckled, though part of him was offended at how Guinevere described him to her family. He did allow himself to remember though, that he had been a right twat at times when he was younger. Perhaps her description wasn't entirely unwarranted.

"I had also heard from her about when you were thrown in prison, so I was a little shocked when she suddenly told me that you were out and working with her. I had been – "

He stopped when he realized that the flinch that had passed across Sirius' face at the mention of the word 'prison' had turned into a glazed-over sheet that hid his face and the affecting storm in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned the prison thing. I keep forgetting that the wizarding prison is so much worse than the muggle ones. It must've been terrible, being in there and knowing that you were innocent."

Sirius' voice came like the whisper of a monotone wind. "Actually, knowing I was innocent was all that kept me sane."

Bruce was clearly upset with himself for letting the conversation go downhill the way it had, and he struggled to bring back the spark that he had seen in the man's eyes when he had opened the door. "But I was glad to hear she was working with you."

That turned the man's head. "You were?"

"Absolutely. My sister gets off thinking that she is a damn queen most of the time. There's no one to challenge her judgment. Her last partner just followed her around and filled out paperwork. She's used to everything being her way. It's really time for someone to show her that she isn't the knowledge goddess that she thinks she is."

Sirius grinned, and Bruce saw the spark come back to light his eyes. "Yes, she does rather need to be pulled down a notch or so in that department, doesn't she?"

Whatever could be said about him by his sister, Bruce could see that the man had magnetism. That must have driven Gwen crazy. She did not like men who demanded respect just by entering a room. His sister was impressed by actions, not charisma.

"Perhaps you could give me an idea of what she's been doing these past years," Sirius suggested. "No one has bothered to tell me what she has spent all of her time doing. Least of all her."

Sirius noticed the way that Bruce's face dimmed at the mention of Guinevere's recent history, but at that moment, Guinevere came back into the room and motioned both of them into the kitchen.

"I know you've been talking about me, you know. Why don't you try and whisper for a change? Anyway, dinner is ready. Go in and sit down."

The two men had the grace to look bashful as they made their way into the kitchen. The small table had been set for three this time, a cramped but comfortable fit. Already set at the table were plates containing some sort of meat, green beans, and garlic bread. The smells were thrilling.

While Sirius was placing his napkin in his lap, he looked up at Bruce. "You know, I've only eaten here once and I have to say that your sister is one of the best cooks I've ever known."

"She is fantastic, isn't she? That's part of the reason that I stop by, really. Whenever I need a good meal, I always know that my sister will be willing to open the kitchen for me. She's like our mother in that way – nothing that can't be solved with a good meal and good company."

"Well, she's got the meal part covered at least," he ribbed. A thought popped into Sirius's head. "So what are you doing here? I take it that you don't live nearby."

Guinevere bustled back into the kitchen and started putting pots and pans into the sink, getting her cleanup work halfway done before they started eating. Bruce glanced over his shoulder briefly to look before turning back to Sirius. "I do now. I'm a farm hand, I take work where I can get it. And my new place of employment happens to be at a farm pretty close to here. So I'll probably be around for a year or so."

Sirius felt an odd kind of relief at those words. He liked Bruce already. He seemed like a very normal, reasonable man. And with him there perhaps Guinevere wouldn't be so harsh on Sirius. "So I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you then."

Bruce grinned. "Yeah, I'm bound to pop up here and there. I promise I won't make a nuisance of myself, though."

"Oh, I'm not worried. It'd be nice having another man around."

He could hear Guinevere's eyes roll even though her back was to him. "Oh, yes, that's exactly what we need around here, more men."

The corners of Sirius' mouth turned up slightly and Bruce returned the look. "You know, Bruce, please feel free to stop by downstairs anytime. My place isn't quite as… crowded."

"Why thank – "

Guinevere cut Bruce off before he had the chance to finish. "You must have a death wish, Sirius Black, coming into my home and having the nerve to insult my housekeeping."

Sirius got a very nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach until he looked up and caught Guinevere's eye. She wasn't angry, in fact, the impish gleam in her eye was almost… attractive, but Sirius was too shocked by the fact that he wasn't really being scolded to linger on that fact.

"Guinevere… did you just try to make… a joke?" Sirius inquired good-naturedly.

"Me?" Guinevere breathed. "Joke? I don't know what you're talking about…"

She picked up a dishtowel carefully and snapped Bruce in the back of the head with it.

"Oi, woman!" he cursed, spinning around and trying to snatch the towel from the clumsy vantage point of his chair. "That was uncalled for!"

Guinevere held the towel high out of her brother's reach. "Well, if you two are planning on forming the testosterone brigade, I need to find ways of defending myself."

"Guinevere, I must warn you," Sirius said teasingly, "you're on the verge of becoming a real person to me."

Guinevere's eyes flashed playfully. "Oh dear! I mustn't let that happen, or I will never complete my master plan of making you slave to my every whim!"

Sirius without thinking gave her a once over and winked at her. "That isn't very hard to get me to do, darling, providing that I have proper motivation." He picked up his wine glass from the table and took a large gulp, his eyes still locked with hers.

Guinevere's cheeks reddened slightly and she turned around to tend her dishes silently. The glint in her eyes had faded and her shoulders tensed.

Sirius realized his mistake after he had already gone and made it. James had called it the S.F.S.D.C. - Sirius' Five Second Delay of Conscience. Meaning that Sirius' conscience, which was supposed to alert him when he was about to do something incredibly stupid, normally kicked in five seconds after he had already made a fool of himself or made a situation very uncomfortable.

Sirius found himself wishing that he could trade in his conscience for a new and improved version at that moment.

_Fantastic job, Black. You can't do that with her, you know you can't do that with her. This isn't just any woman, this is Guinevere Carnahan's kitchen you're sitting in. She won't know that this is just you screwing around. Most woman think it's cute, Lily and Ivy always laughed it off, but you just put yourself back at square one with this lass. And the evening had been going so well. Bloody brilliant, you are._

Guinevere was having a small crisis of her own as she tried to appear like she had something to do before she sat down to her meal. She was used to seeing Sirius like that. But he had never done that to her. She had always seen him do it to other women.

_Who does he think I am? One of those silly teenage idiots that doted on his every word? He can't do that to me! He should know that he can't do that to me. Even if he is joking –_

There in laid the problem with her anger.

_I was joking too. This was probably just him joking back. I'm overreacting. I just need to calm down and not take things so literally with him._

And no matter how much she would never admit it to a living soul, it also felt so secretly good to have someone like Sirius Black look at you that way. Even if he didn't mean it.

Bruce sensed the tension in the room very easily, and realized that it was up to him to make the evening go smoothly. It was clear that his sister and her new partner were not yet used to each other and still second guessing everything they said and did in each other' s presence. Which was a shame because Bruce knew that Sirius was exactly what Guinevere needed. Especially at this point in her life and after all she had been through…

"Well, this looks delicious, Gwen," he stated loudly, snapping the other two out of their reveries. "Let's dive in here, I'm starving."

"Right," Guinevere mumbled. "Sorry, I'll sit down now."

She took her seat and the three began to eat in silence.

After a moment, Sirius realized that Guinevere was cutting at an odd angle with her knife and grimacing ever so slightly. Without saying a word, he reached over, grabbed her hand at the back and turned it over. The skin was red and raw and blistered across a large chunk of her palm. He felt Guinevere's alarm at his touch, the way she almost jerked away, but he ran his forefinger softly across the back of her hand to calm the instinct out of her. Her muscles relaxed and she allowed him access to her scalded flesh.

Bruce began to choke on his food. "Bloody hell, Guinevere! Why didn't you tell us about that, it looks terrible! You should go to a hospital!"

Guinevere waved her free hand at him to brush aside his panic. "Oh, it's really not that bad, Bruce. I have some salve in the bathroom that will clear this up in a day or so. Wizarding medicine is different. I've had worse too – you know how clumsy I am."

Sirius was staring intently at the burn. Without looking up, he called to Bruce. "I came in here with a jacket; didn't have a chance to drop it off downstairs when I got back here. I dropped it on the couch. My wand should be in the right hand pocket. Could you get it for me?"

Bruce said, "Sure," and immediately left the table.

Sirius finally looked back up at Guinevere's face. He caught the way she winced as he carefully turned her hand over to see how far the burn had climbed on the sides. Her fingers were shaking a little and he couldn't tell whether it was from the burn or his touch making her nervous.

She met his eyes and stared questioningly. Sirius clucked his tongue lightly in response, the fingers of his other hand brushing at the edges of the burn to sooth. "You really got yourself this time."

She shrugged. "Nothing I haven't done before. I'm really so maladroit most of the time. Can't seem to fix that."

Sirius raised his eyebrows amusedly. "Maladroit?"

Guinevere gave him a small smile. "It means awkward, all thumbs, clumsy, gauche, ham-fisted et cetera…"

"I will never allow you to edit anything I write, Guinevere."

"Fair enough."

Suddenly she jumped a bit in her chair and shouted, "Ack!" Sirius realized that he hadn't been paying enough attention to where his fingers had gone and he had touched a sensitive part of the burn.

"Damn, I'm sorry," Sirius hissed, pulling her hand toward him and blowing cool air on it. "Now I've gone all maladroit too, you see? You're contagious."

Guinevere sniggered as much as she was able and glanced up almost shyly. Bruce returned with Sirius' wand and handed it to him. Sirius thanked him and pointed his wand over the burn. He whispered a few words and it faded right before their eyes.

Bruce was considerably impressed. "How'd you do that? That's incredible!"

Guinevere flexed her hand, pulling out of Sirius' grip as soon as she could. "I never could remember those burn-healing charms. Thanks."

"Not a problem. Burn-healing charms were required learning in the Black Household."

"Why's that?" Bruce asked, returning to his dinner.

Sirius pursed his lips for a moment, staring down at his plate. "Because my parents did not believe in taking care of their children when they got hurt. They felt that it built character for a child to handle it himself when he scraped his knees or fell down the stairs. Or curiously stuck his finger over an open flame. My brother did that many times, the first time he was only three. I had to learn the charm for him because he was too young to know and the burns would have healed badly."

Guinevere's mouth dropped open. Sirius had never talked about his family at school. She had learned of the reputation of the Black house, but she had always assumed that Sirius was not in Slytherin House simply because he had too much of the Gryffindor bravado. She had never known what his parents were like.

"Your mum and dad did that?" Bruce said, horrified. "I mean, no offense mate, but they sound like terrible parents."

"None taken," Sirius answered sardonically. "They were."

The meal thankfully went along fine, and the conversation lightened up rather swiftly. Bruce and Sirius joked back and forth and complimented Guinevere on her fabulous meal. Sirius explained Quidditch to Bruce, who in turn told him about football.

"I know it doesn't seem anywhere near as interesting as your game, but it's fun to watch. After all, you won't see legwork like that while your players are riding on brooms."

"It actually sounds very interesting. I'll have to catch it some time."

Bruce suddenly perked up. "I have a great idea! I have two tickets to a game three weeks from now. Guinevere was going to go with me, but since you've never been to one, why don't you take my ticket and you two can go?"

Guinevere and Sirius simultaneously broke into excuses as to why that didn't need to happen, but Bruce stopped them both.

"Come on, you guys would have fun, I know you would! And this is a perfect opportunity for you to spend time together, which you clearly need to do, seeing as how you're partners now. Just do it, you'll have a blast."

Sirius glanced at Guinevere to gauge her feelings on the matter. She gave an overdramatic shrug to show that she gave up. Sirius looked back at Bruce. "All right, I'll go. But it better be as much fun as you say it will be."

Bruce smiled, feeling that he had truly accomplished something that night. Though he wasn't quite sure what it was.

Later on, Sirius finally stood up from the table. "Well, I should really get going."

Guinevere took his plate and was about to walk to the sink, but Bruce intercepted it. "I've got the dishes." She opened her mouth to protest, but Bruce didn't listen. "You made the meal, it's the least I can do. Just see him to the door, I've got everything here."

Guinevere looked at her brother strangely. It was not like him to be helpful when company was around. But she followed Sirius out of the kitchen all the same. When they got the door, she noticed something.

"I was wearing my apron all through dinner!"

Sirius grinned, picking up his jacket from the couch. "Yeah, I was wondering when you'd notice that."

"Why didn't you say something?" she exclaimed, slapping him in the arm.

Her show of violence did not phase Sirius in the least. "I don't know, I thought it was rather endearing." He paused. "Mainly because you didn't know it was there," he clarified. "I'm not attracted to all women who wear aprons or anything."

Again Guinevere had a moment of wondering what he truly meant by that. Everything he said confused her, and she hated that feeling of helplessness.

So she shoved him toward the door.

"Fine, then you will kindly get out of my house!"

"All right, all right! Don't get so defensive! I promise the next time that you are wearing such antifeminist draperies when they are not required, I will notify you at once."

Guinevere sighed in vexation. "You could drive one to drink, Sirius Black."

His grin became even more lopsided, giving her an instant glimpse of that overconfident boy from her youth. And for the first time, it was not an image she hated.

"I know, isn't it impressive?"

"_Out!_"

"All right! See you on Monday!"

Guinevere shut the door firmly behind him and spun around, leaning her back against it. She lifted up her healed palm, still feeling the leftover tingle of magic spreading through her nerves. Guinevere had always noticed that whenever magic was performed on one by another person, the magic always left some sort of impression of that person. After Sirius' little stunt, she could almost feel his uncrushable vivacity spreading through her veins, making her happy and light for no reason at all, yet wary for feeling that close to him through his simple healing spell.

Bruce came in and caught her staring at her hand. "He's quite a fellow."

Guinevere lowered the hand immediately, feigning confusion. "Who?"

"You know who," he tossed back in a scolding tone.

"Just because we're twins, Bruce, doesn't mean I'm supposed to known what you're thinking."

"Black, you daft cow! Who else would I be talking about?"

Guinevere snorted. "Of course, who else indeed. Yes, he's quite a fellow. And if I didn't think that someone might miss him, I'd hex him into the next world."

"Oh, you don't hate him as much as you think you do."

"Which makes me hate him more, so I really do."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "You need help."

"Perhaps."

"He's perfect for you."

Guinevere laughed so hard that her lungs pressed painfully into her ribs. "The man who can have any and every woman he wants is the perfect man for me? Please, the man is little more than eye candy to someone as focused and down-to-earth as me."

"He's smart Guinevere. And he's got a great sense of humor."

"Ha! Great sense of humor. Says you!"

"Please, he's – "

"You don't know what I put up with from him at school, Bruce! Don't tell me who he is, or what he's like!"

"You don't have to close off like this just because – "

"We're not having this conversation again."

Bruce sighed. "Fine. But I shouldn't have to tell you that this opportunity has been dropped into your lap, and you should at least consider it."

"Oh, go away and leave me alone. Sirius Black is most certainly not my salvation. And neither are you, when you come in here saying stupid things like that."

Bruce frowned. "All right. I'll come by on Sunday to visit again."

Guinevere sighed. "Sounds good."

Bruce could not figure out why his sister was so against Sirius Black. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but he didn't understand what in Guinevere's personality or her upbringing made her hang onto things the way she did. What he did know was that if she didn't stop soon, she would be alone and unhappy for the rest of her life.

And truly she didn't deserve that.

* * *

… _Watch the red sun rise…_

_Because if it had been any other color than red, his eyes would have burnt out of their sockets. The world was only something that he had done wrong. Because he woke up and he was still there._

_Please let me die today._

_James and Lily's lifeless bodies when he'd found them in Godric Hollow that night. Lily's thin frame twisted in ways that shouldn't have been possible and James' fists still clenched tight. Harry's toys littering the ground around him. But the boy was nowhere in sight._

_I'll kill him. I'll kill that coward with my bare hands and smile as his life drains away in my grip. And no one would blame me for it. They wouldn't shed one tear._

_Remus transforming. The scream that escaped his lips as his bones cracked and changed. The wolf's lonely howl. His tear-streaked face in the morning, his trembling body._

_He deserves better. So much better… I would do anything to save him from it. And now there's no one to be with him when it happens._

_Ivy's face at the trial. The confusion, the anger, the betrayal. The fear that comes with learning that someone you know and trust and love has never told you the truth._

_I can't tell you what has happened. You wouldn't believe me. You have no reason to. His cover up was flawless. I just wish I could tell you that I love you, and I want you to take care of yourself._

_Regulus, a Death Eater. The Dark Mark burned into his pale, young, perfect flesh._

_Why, Brother? _Why?

_I'm innocent. They can't bring me down completely. I'm not lost. I'm innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. Innocent._

_And they're coming back to rob me of that._

Sirius' own scream woke him in the dark. The sheets were tangled around his legs and he felt cold from the sweat running down his back and shoulders. Pooling in beads on his stomach.

He'd never get rid of these nightmares.

He brought a hand to his forehead to be certain that he was still real. That it hadn't been some trick and he was really still back there in his cell. Cell number 3926. His home for thirteen years.

He focused on every happy, recent memory he could conjure to prove that he was truly there. Remus and Ivy dancing at their wedding. He and Harry celebrating the young man's first job. Ron and Hermione telling everyone that they were getting married.

Every time he had the nightmare, he had to do this. Otherwise it was just some cruel prison torture and he had never really broken out at all. No one knew he was innocent. Harry still didn't know who he was. Voldemort was out there waiting to strike.

Why did he have to suffer through this?

Living through it was bad enough. It nearly killed him. But to have to relive that life so many nights? What had he done to deserve that?

He knew it was really because he was unwilling to face it when he was awake. But he couldn't do that. It was simply too much to ask. He couldn't function trying to handle all of that during the day. Having those flashes in waking hours.

So he would have to bear them at night for the rest of his life.

He reached for the glass of water that was never far away from his bed. He always woke from the dream parched, as if it soaked all of the nutrients from his body. He was continually amazed that he woke up from it at all.

But he was Alive.

And that was all that mattered.

So he set his head back down on the pillow and went to sleep, knowing that the dream would trouble him no more tonight.

* * *

And there we are! I hope it was enjoyable for all. I would like to point out that the Harry/Ginny scene was written before Book 6 came out. Because I'm clairvoyant like that ;) (actually the next three chapters were all written before Book 6 came out – I've been writing like crazy) Yay, for Book 6 doing smart things with Harry and Ginny! See you guys next chapter (hopefully within 2-3 weeks – keep checking back)! There will be flashback and with singing next time! 


	5. Gods, Transformations, and Distance

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, you know the deal.

Authors Note: Okay, so it took a little longer than I expected, but really this was wonderfully fast! Aren't you proud of me? Expect it to go about this rate from now on. I plan on getting at least one chapter up a month now. Have gotten adjusted to college again, and so have my beta readers, so now we create a well-oiled, unstoppable machine! Or something…

Onto responses –

Rotae: What did I think of HPB? Good question. Well, I loved it, of course. Can't really place it above POA, though because that one had the most Remus and Sirius without the angst!Harry of OotP. And I just love POA unconditionally. But for this book, I loved that Harry is finally becoming the hero that I've wanted to see. I always knew he had it in him, he just needed the time for it to come out. I knew that Dumbledore was going to die, but then again, I always knew he was going to die, it was just a matter of when. It still broke my heart. I know that Snape isn't evil, as well, because we all understand that situation. It just makes me angry that everyone so easily dismissed how much Albus trusted him, and were sure that Snape was evil now. I felt terrible for Draco, who we all could see was on the verge of dropping the wand and going to Dumbledore. That just pissed me off when the Death Eaters interrupted that. I was happy that Remus and Tonks were together, but I was confused because we haven't really seen them together, so in my brain the relationship doesn't work yet. We don't know enough about it for me to be entirely comfortable, so I'm hoping we'll have more of them in Book 7. Loved all the H/G and R/H interaction. They're such great pairs. Anyway, now that I've rambled long enough (even though that's the short version of what I think of it), I'm glad that you're still enjoying the story, and that you hate Clayton (because really, there's nothing about him that's nice or anything), and I hope this chapter keeps you happy!

Brielle Lupin: Oh, I love your long reviews! They make me so happy! And of course I read them – reviews are like essential nutrients for writers. We can't survive without them. Yeah, the error that you found was definitely an real error, and the betas have been beaten thoroughly for it. Of course, they're also both 'content' beta readers, meaning that I have to give it to them first, not just for spelling, but to make sure that they think the story is going were it needs to, and that everything sounds in character. It's sort of annoying that no matter how many times you go over something, you still find more errors! So thank you for that. I'm glad you're liking Bruce, he's a cutey and I loved him from the moment he opened his mouth (in my head, of course). And Gwen softens up after a while, don't worry, she just needs a lot of time. I'm happy that you like her and Sirius together :). You've got the right idea about Clayton, but I won't give anything away or it won't be interesting. Just keep guessing! Now go read and enjoy!

MackenzieW: My first year was fabulous, thank you (and I'm glad yours was too)! I'm so happy with how much everyone hates Clayton and feels bad for Remus. It lets me know that I'm doing this right. Well, how can Harry and Ginny not be together! They're perfect and adorable, and now they're officially cannon :)! Yeah, Draco got some issues. But then again, we already knew that. I'm glad you're liking everything so far, and I hope you like this chapter!

BlueFeather11: Thanks for your good luck and your lovely review, as always:) And thank you so much for your flattering comments – I'm so glad that you like the way I write the characters, and find them realistic. I really love writing Remus as he gets jealous, it allows for a really interesting exploration of his character because he's normally so calm instead. I think you'll like Sirius and Gwen and the football game too (it's coming up in chapter 6, if I remember correctly). Thanks again, and now continue onward!

Sirius-Ella: Thanks so much! If you like Guinevere now, I'm sure you'll keep liking her. She just gets more and more interesting as I write her:) I hope you like this chapter as well!

Jess Pallas: I promise it will never be abandoned! That is my solemn oath to all of you – I will never stop this story before it is completed That would just be mean. And I updated when you checked because I'm psychic. Yeah, that's it. I'm glad that you're liking it so far! Interesting theory you've got about Clayton and Remus… but I'm not going to give anything away! You'll just have to keep reading and find out ;) Enjoy!

TheMysteriousPhoenix: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're liking Guinevere, It's important to me that people enjoy her as she becomes more important with every chapter I write. That's cool that Bruce reminds you of a friend – you must have really awesome friends:) Yeah, we all totally knew about Harry and Ginny – it was fate. And tickling is just essential to cute romantic plots ;) You comparison makes me want to read this other series you mentioned… I'll have to check it out when I find time… Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter too!

Chii: Oh, I'm sorry I made you cry! And you've flattered me so much that I'm blushing (really, I am). I cannot tell you how much that means to me. And I'm glad that you like the couples because I enjoy writing them so much. Yeah, the benefit of getting Harry and Ginny together after Voldemort has been defeated is that I don't have to worry about Harry's Hero Complex. So he can't dump Ginny – he has no excuse (teehee). Stupid Malfoy indeed. Coming in at bad times grumble growl Anyway, hope this chapter is to your liking as well!

SchungsAllAround: Yay! You love my dialogue! That makes my life! And you're catching all the good stuff between Sirius and Guinevere, which makes me even more happy. Isn't jealous!Remus fascinating? I've been having such fun working with him, he's really been throwing me for a loop. Just goes to prove, you can't write a character – they tell you how they want to be written. Silly Remus. And I wholeheartedly agree: Kill the Texan What-His-Face! Now onward to the next chapter (I hope you like it)!

LadyLupinLover: Yeah, I'm bad, 6 months was a long time. But I'm getting better! Like 300 better! Oh, you like Sirius and Guinevere. That makes me so overjoyed! Aren't they fun? I know their wasn't as much Remus as usual, but in this fic I worry more about where the story is going in little chunks than who gets the most chapter time. Hopefully there's enough Remus in this chapter. Hope you like!

Alora05: When will they get together? Well, it's romance centered fic, which means… a ways from now. Sorry! raises up hands to fend off flying implements thrown in my direction But don't worry, it will happen! You know me, I'm a sucker for the happy ending. Don't worry, no one likes the Texan. Not even me. But he has a purpose, believe it or not. I have a grand master scheme that I am plotting away at… insert evil laugh And I have Sirius to put Clayton in his place on occasion, because that's why we love Sirius (not the only reason, but one of them). And you're not a suck up. You're just a really awesome person, who makes me happy-ful because I know I'm writing this story for such awesome people! Now read and I hope you like it!

deathbycookie15: Yay, you liked it! I'm glad you get wrapped up, let's me know that I'm doing something right. You're right, poor Sirius. He's a sweet baby and I worry for him. I hope you think this chapter is as good as the last too, so I won't take up anymore of your time! Read!

squirrly doughnut: No, your speech is very fluent! Or I'd be all confused, and that would be weird…. I'm glad that you are enjoying Sirius and Guinevere:) As for what happened to Guienvere… you'll find out soon enough ;) I hope this chapter is up to your expectations!

kArlITaLUna: I'm glad that you're liking everything so far. When will Sirius and Guinevere get it… well, that's gonna take some time. And I will warn you that Remus and Ivy are in for a bit of a rollercoaster in this story too. I'm flattered that you like Remus and Ivy better that Remus and Tonks. I myself don't really know how I feel about Remus/Tonks yet. I loved the idea at the start, but since we know so little about their relationship, it's not quite real for me yet. I hope she tells us more about them in Book 7. As for Clayton – don't we all want him to get eaten by a giant squid? That would be fantastic! Unfortunately, I have to do other things with him… damn. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Radiant: Yes, I promise, no quitting on this story ever! Rest assured! And you actually thought the chapter was worth the wait? I'm so glad! I thought that most of you guys were just going to stop reading since it was taking so long, but you're all awesome and still care enough to keep reading. That makes me feel so special:) And I'm glad you think that Sirius and Guinevere are moving at a good pace. I am determined to make sure that they don't go too fast – it wouldn't be realistic. Anyway, I hope you like the next chapter!

Aldavinur: Hi! Wow, I got you review for Echoes and was so flattered that you read the story in German, and now you're here? That's incredible! Thank you so much for continuing to read the story, I know it must be hard since it's not in your language now. I know, Clayton makes everyone mad, including me. He's a jerk, but you know Ivy – she trusts people too much and has a hard time thinking that people are bad. But you're right, she loves only Remus, and that's not gonna change. And I'm glad that you like Sirius and Guinevere. They are both very interesting, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy them as much I like writing them. And I'm so pleased that you think I write Harry well, because he's not easy to write for me, so if you like it, I know I'm doing a good job. And of course we all love Harry and Ginny together. I'm glad you felt a little bad for Draco – he's not a happy boy, and I think that even though he's nasty and vicious, there's a lot to his character that we don't know yet. Yeah, Ron and Hermione are getting married quick, but it's got to happen now because we all know it's meant to be! And they're just so cute together:) Anyway, I'll stop babbling now and let you read the next chapter! Thank you for leaving such a lovely review!

Clarissa: Glad you like! Here's more! ;)

Amber Magic: Yay, you liked it! I'm glad you like the Sirius-Clayton interaction, that was so much fun to write. Sirius is such a sneaky devil ;) Yeah, Ivy's clueless, but then, we already knew that, didn't we? She just trusts people too much. I should know, I designed her that way. Character flaws and all. Wow, JCS really needs to happen now. I'm getting funny images in my head of everyone in that show. Peter would have to have one kickass voice hidden in there to play Judas, though. That would be really interesting. The real question is Pontius Pilate: Sirius or Snape? That's the question that's really taking over my brain right now… You're so sweet to say that if it can't be Ivy in the pairings it might as well be Tonks! That made me feel so special! I agree, I liked all the pairings. She's clearly trying to make one of her big messages 'love conquers all', and I have no problem with that. I don't care who Remus is with as long as he is happy. And I do love Tonks (although I wasn't happy with how mopey she got just because Remus was trying to keep away from her – I always thought of her as being stronger than that). But I would have liked to know more about their relationship because I'm having a hard time seeing it without more information (just basic stuff like: when did it start? Did Sirius know about it, if it started before his death? How did they fall for each other? We really need to know all that stuff). As for your AU question, it's a good one. I hadn't really thought about it, but right now, since I already have Voldemort as being vanquished, it looks like it'll just stay AU. Not much of a point in me trying to incorporate it, especially since these two stories are more for Remus and Sirius anyway. So that's what it looks like. But enough of me blabbing, go read the chapter and tell me what you think! Hope you like it!

And now… SHAZAAM! Er, I mean, A CHAPTER!

**_Chapter Five – Gods, Transformations, and Distance_**

**THEN – **Marauder Sixth Year

"James, this man is a god. I'm not joking."

"I just don't… get it, Sirius."

"You will, trust me."

Sirius had found a way to get a record player working in the castle. Lily had protested, reminding him that electronic devices were not supposed to work in Hogwarts for a reason, but Sirius ignored her irritation, reminding her that what the staff didn't know, wouldn't hurt them.

His reason for wanting it to work was that, over the summer, Sirius had discovered muggle music from his cousin, Andromeda. He had also run away from home that summer, casting off the oppression of his family for good. His feeling of newfound freedom was boundless, and the music only helped.

And so Sirius had gathered everyone in the common room to listen to his new messiah. Andromeda had apparently been a fan of the man for a few years and provided Sirius with plenty of pictures to show his friends. The girls were suitably impressed, Peter laughed, Remus politely excused himself from the conversation in puzzlement, and James seemed slightly disturbed, although that was probably only due to the fact that Lily found the musician so "gorgeous".

"What did you say the album was called again?" Ivy asked.

Sirius pulled the record out from its sleeve and stared lovingly. "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars."

Remus made an attempt to understand. "But you said the chap's name was David Bowie. I'm confused, is he this Ziggy Stardust person, or David Bowie?"

Sirius rolled his eyes in irritation, amazed that no one got it yet. "His name is David Bowie. Ziggy Stardust was a sort of character that he played while he performed his music on stage. That's why he wears all those colorful jumpsuits and feather boas and everything."

"Yes, but Sirius," James began slowly, still trying to wrap his mind around it, "with all that clothing and all the stuff you've told us about him, doesn't he seem to be a bit of… well, a bit of a poof?"

Sirius straightened up authoritatively. "He's bisexual, actually. He's actually got a wife and a kid, but he still has sex with anyone he fancies. Boys and girls alike."

James blinked stupidly. "And that doesn't seem a bit… odd to you?"

"What? No, of course not! James, don't you understand what this man is?" James, Remus and Ivy all leaned in closer, feeling Sirius' conspiratorial tone in the air. His voice softened to a whisper. "This man is the ultimate Marauder!"

James opened his mouth to protest, but Sirius quickly cut him off.

"He's managed to get most of the world to accept or even love what he's doing. He has packaged and promoted himself in such a way that he can _get away with anything_. Don't you get it, Prongs? This man is a self-made god! And all the poofy clothes and all the makeup just make him more capable of doing whatever he wants."

Remus' eyes widened in horror. "Please don't tell me that you are planning on making yourself a god too, Sirius."

"Don't be daft, Moony. I just want you to listen to the music."

He carefully placed the record on the turntable and moved the needle to the edge. Music filled the common room and many stopped to listen to the hypnotic combination of drums, guitar, piano, bass, and the haunting, searing vocals of Ziggy Stardust.

By the end everyone was so caught up that they felt let down when they realized that there was no more music.

But James was still a bit skeptical. "I think I needed the lyrics in front of me."

Sirius sighed along with half the room. "It's not just the lyrics, James. It's the performance of it." When James looked still unconvinced, Sirius held up one finger to stop him. "Watch."

He grabbed another record that he had laid on the table and proceeded to change albums. He carefully placed the needle further in on the new record to start on a specific track. A blazing guitar hook blasted through the room.

Ivy staggered back into a chair. "Oh Sirius, I think you may have found my new favorite song if the rest of it is as good as the opening," she yelled over the pitch.

Sirius smiled and sauntered over to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of her chair as the singing began.

And Sirius sang along with all the bravado, body language and appeal of a real space-age rock star.

"_You've got your mother in a whirl,"_

On "whirl" Sirius held up Ivy's hand and spun her around.

"_She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl"_

He then made a move to pull up Ivy's skirt and check, which she stopped with a gentle kick, so that the drama king could pretend to fall to the ground. He leapt up with surprising agility and twirled a lock of Ivy's hair around his finger.

"_Hey babe, you hair's all right,"_

He caught her chin with his index finger and leaned in close. Ivy pretended to swoon.

"_Hey babe, let's go out tonight"_

He pushed Ivy gently toward Remus, who was standing in the corner watching with his usual mild amusement, and perhaps just a hint of jealousy. Ivy staggered back into his arms and he had to grab hold of her to keep her from falling. She giggled at her clumsy footwork and he joined her sheepishly.

Sirius had moved onto Lily, beckoning her with a finger. She edged her way to him warily.

"_You like me and I like it all,"_

He grabbed Lily round the waist and dipped her dramatically. Lily laughed as he brought her back up and stared pointedly at James, who was shooting him warning glares.

"_We like dancing and we look divine"_

He strutted over to Tara Phillips, the Head Girl. Spinning around her, he grabbed her hips from behind and pulled her in close.

"_You love bands when they play it hard,"_

Tara, being one of the few people in Hogwarts who had taken dance classes when she was younger, knew how to pull a move or two. In time with the guitars she and Sirius both dramatically snapped their heads to the right and forward again. Sirius trailed his fingers down her arm.

"_You want more and you want it fast"_

Sirius moved over to Tara's best friend Andréa Wellstone and got a bit too close for comfort. Andréa laughed it off, pushing Sirius' face away with one hand. He pretended to look hurt.

"_They put you down, they say I'm wrong,"_

Then kneeling down to the ground, Sirius trailed one hand from the girl's hip all the way down to her ankle. She shrieked, but his only response was to wink at her devilishly.

"_You tacky thing, you put them on"_

And with that, Sirius leapt onto the table, the song seeming to pick up just to keep up with him. He played air guitar as if he actually knew something about the instrument, and shook his head so hard that his perfect hair whipped back and forth across his eyes. Licking his lips, he started in with the chorus.

"_Rebel, rebel,_

_You've torn your dress"_

He casually slipped next to one of the girl's surrounding the table in awe and pushed one side of her robe off of her shoulder. She blushed, but kept her eyes fixed on him, as did everyone in the room.

Gryffindors had learned at very young ages that when Sirius Black was performing, it was not something that should be missed. The common room had been filling up steadily since the song had started, giving Sirius a wide range of people to harass as the music continued. The next girl Sirius grabbed had just come in from studying in the library, and probably was going to forget every fact she had just memorized due to his performance. Sirius took her face in his hands and brushed a thumb over her bottom lip.

"_Rebel, rebel,_

_Your face is a mess,"_

The sight was beginning to get a little out of hand when Guinevere entered the common room with her Gryffindor friend, Sylvia. She looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what had made everyone go so berserk, and quickly spotted Sirius Black at the center of it all. She rolled her eyes. Not as though she was surprised.

"_Rebel, rebel,_

_How could they know,"_

Sirius' eyes moved to the edge of the crowd. His eyes happened upon Guinevere as he came to the finish of the phrase. _Oh, this is too good to be true…_ It was so much fun to make her squirm. And her eyes had locked with his exactly when he wanted them to –

"_Hot tramp!_

_I love you so!"_

He finished it off by blowing her a kiss and giving a little finger wave.

Guinevere turned bright pink and glared as best as she was able, but it was too late. Sirius didn't notice her embarrassing flush or her death glare. He was too busy working the crowd.

"Some girls would kill to have him look at them the way he just looked at you," Sylvia whispered.

"Some girls have no brainpower," Guinevere hissed back harshly. "Or self-respect for that matter. It's plain to see that he just toys with people. There's no real emotion behind it."

"Who said anything about emotion? I'm just talking about some good old-fashioned flirting. That's what boys like Black are good for. You shouldn't take him so seriously. You should just learn to have a little fun with it."

"Well, I'm sorry, I just can't take everything so lightly. I don't appreciate meaningless acquaintances."

"All right," Sylvia sighed. "Just don't plan on having a lot of fun in your life. Or a lot of relationships for that matter."

Guinevere shook her head. "I don't want a lot of relationships. Just one perfect one would be nice. Leave all the unnecessary ones out of the picture."

Sylvia snorted. "Yeah, right."

Guinevere looked back toward the table, where Sirius was now dragging girls up to dance. "Besides… it's people like Black who always end up alone. It's impossible to love someone who's so self-involved."

Through all the crowd mumblings, James Potter's voice rose up from the muddle.

"All right, Sirius! I think I get it now! Just _please_ stop making girly-eyes at me!"

**NOW**

Sirius peered behind the partition before leaving work. He had something to take care of.

"Oh, Guinevere?"

She didn't even bother to glance up from the paperwork that she was meticulously filling out. "Yes, what do you want?"

"I need the address of the Waldens."

Guinevere's head snapped up abruptly. "What for?" she inquired suspiciously.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I want to rob their house."

"Very funny."

Sirius sobered quickly. "It's Charlie's first transformation. I have to be there."

Guinevere paused, her eyes narrowing quizzically. "You're really going over there…"

"Of course I am. He's not getting the Wolfsbane Potion. I have to be there for him, I promised I'd see him soon and he can't go through that alone."

Guinevere's face saddened. "Sirius, just think about it for a moment, what can you really do for him?"

"The same thing I did for Remus," he answered determinedly.

"Are you sure he'll understand that?"

"He's a real bright kid, Guinevere. He'll be fine with it."

Guinevere stared him in the face for a moment. Sirius stared right back. Finally, she sighed and opened her file drawer. After sifting through for a moment, she pulled out a sheet of parchment. "57 Thornton Street in Brighton." She pulled out a spare piece of parchment and wrote the address down for him just in case. "How are you getting there?"

Sirius took the address from her and pocketed it. "I'll probably just take the bike over."

Guinevere blinked, the corners of her mouth upturning ever so slightly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Bit of a quiet neighborhood."

He waved a dismissing hand. "Ah, they'll be fine with it. The neighborhood could probably do with a little excitement anyway." He turned around to leave, but stopped short and turned back to her. "You don't want to come, do you?" The words came out hesitantly, and Guinevere couldn't tell if it was because he was nervous to ask her or because he really didn't want to ask her at all.

Guinevere shook her head, her voice taking on the same hesitant tone. "No, I shouldn't… I mean, he trusts you… not me… you should go…"

Sirius nodded, looking rather relieved that she had said no. "Well, I'll see you, then."

"See you." A thought occurred to her as she watched him walk off in his leather jacket that she hated so much. "Don't think that spending the night with this boy means that you can come into work late tomorrow!"

"And don't think that just because I'm not around tonight you can have some dashing young man over at your flat for a night of wild passion!" he tossed back over his shoulder.

A few people in the hall stopped at that comment and looked back toward Guinevere, who disappeared behind her side of the partition as quick as was humanly possibly. _Some bloody nerve he's got!_

And she almost smiled… almost.

* * *

The bike was loud enough that Charlie was already dashing out of the house as Sirius pulled into the Walden's driveway. Sirius hopped off the bike waited for the boy to approach.

"That's yours?" Charlie asked in amazement.

"Yep," Sirius answered with smile. He had a feeling the kid would appreciate it. And it would help to take his mind off of things.

"Can we go for a ride?"

Sirius laughed. "I don't think your mum would be happy if I let you. Maybe when you're older." Charlie's jubilant expression dimmed somewhat. "Want to know a secret, though?" Sirius prodded. The boy perked up again and he nodded. Sirius leaned in close to his ear. "It flies."

Charlie's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Really?"

"Really."

Charlie grabbed Sirius by the arm and started dragging him toward the backyard. "Want to see my tree house?"

"I can't think of anything in the world that I would like to see more than your tree house," Sirius answered with a grin.

He followed Charlie into the backyard, and found a comfy-looking little cabin up in the largest tree. "That's great, Charlie. I didn't have one of those when I was a kid."

"Dad and I built it," Charlie explained. "Well, actually, he did most of the building, but I helped a lot." He started up the tree and beckoned Sirius to follow. "Come on, you can come up, it's safe."

Sirius began his climb up, aided by the wooden blocks that were nailed to the trunk, invigorated by the feeling of doing something that he hadn't done since he was a boy. He got into the tree house through a trap door in the floor and hoisted himself up to sit inside.

Once they were both sitting, Charlie grabbed a blanket for himself and gave one to Sirius. "It's getting cold, you might need this," he prompted. Sirius took the blanket gratefully and wrapped it around his shoulders, even though he wasn't very cold.

Charlie lit a small lantern in the corner, and from a box labeled in blocky, awkward handwriting: 'Charlie's Stuff: DO NOT TOUCH EVER' he pulled out two granola bars. He handed one of those to Sirius as well. "For sustenance," he instructed, and proceeded to pull off the wrapper. Sirius followed in suit, not allowing it to escape him that the boy had used the word 'sustenance' correctly in a sentence at the age of seven.

"How often do you come up here?" Sirius asked.

"Every day, even in the winter. I always go up here after school. Once I got sick from staying up here for too long when it was cold outside, so mum had to make rules about how long I could stay here when it's cold."

"So you must really like it up here."

Charlie nodded as he nibbled on his granola bar. "Sure. I can do whatever I want up here. No one bothers me, and I can just think if I need to, without anyone bugging me to make sure that I'm all right."

"What do you think about?"

"Lots of things… well, lately just the one thing…" he tilted his head up, and Sirius could already see the telltale circles beginning to form under the boy's eyes. "I'm not getting the Wolfsbane Potion this time."

Sirius nodded solemnly. "I know."

"How long are you here for?"

"All night, if you want me here."

"But… how? You can't be in the same room with me."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Charlie, I have a special secret to tell you. But if I tell you, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone in the entire world, all right?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "I promise."

"In the wizarding world, I'm what's known as an Animagus. Do you know what that means?"

Charlie narrowed his eyes in puzzlement and shook his head.

"It means that I have the ability to turn into an animal at will."

The boy's mouth dropped open. "What sorts of animals?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I can only turn into one animal. When you become an Animagus, you find out what animal you have the power to turn into. My friends and I all decided to become Animagi when we found out about our friend, Remus."

"The werewolf," Charlie finished for him.

"Because – and I'm sure you've already read this – werewolves are not a danger to other animals unless they are provoked by them. They only hunt humans."

"So you turned into animals so you could be with him when he was a werewolf?"

"That's right. This was before the Wolfsbane Potion was invented, and it helped him because when he had us with him he didn't hurt himself as much. He didn't want to tear anything apart with us around. And if you want… I can do that for you tonight. I can keep you company."

The relief on the Charlie's face flooded Sirius' senses. He didn't need to possess any powers of Divination to see what his offer meant to this little boy. Charlie finally looked as young as he really was for the first time that evening.

"Will you really do that for me?"

"Of course, I will."

"What sort of animal can you turn into?"

Sirius smiled. "I'll show you. And you should know, my friends called me Padfoot."

With a brief pop, Charlie suddenly found himself looking at a big, black dog with a wagging tail and huge brown eyes. And the dog seemed to be… smiling at him.

Charlie smiled back. "Padfoot?"

The dog barked once.

Charlie thought for a moment of what else he could do. "Sit, Padfoot."

The dog sat.

"Lie down, Padfoot."

The dog lay down.

"Pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time, Padfoot."

The dog stared at him and seemed to be raising one brow in ill-amusement.

The boy laughed. "Just kidding."

The dog walked over to him and sat down beside him. Charlie reached up and scratched him behind the ears. The scratching slowed as Charlie seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a moment. Then, without warning, the boy threw his arms around the dog and started sobbing.

With another pop, Sirius was back and hugging the boy close to him. "Hey, hey, take it easy, lad. You're going to do fine."

"I'm really scared," he managed to make out through the stuffy nose and muffled sound of a face buried in his jacket.

Sirius pushed him back so he could look Charlie in the eye. "You'd be crazy not to be scared. And that's okay. It's okay if you're scared. Because this is the worst part of it. And once you've gone through it once, you'll know what it's like and it won't be so scary anymore. Right?"

Charlie looked up at him and nodded. Sirius looked at the sky.

"It's starting to get dark. We should get you into the cellar."

* * *

Sirius helped the Waldens to make sure that everything was safe for Charlie in the cellar. They moved out all of the furniture and made sure that the windows were either boarded up or too small for him to climb out of. Sirius checked and rechecked the door lock to make sure that it was secure enough.

"I still don't understand, Mr. Black," Mrs. Walden said slowly. "Why is it that you will be able to stay with Charlie without getting hurt?"

Sirius had decided not to explain the Animagus form to Charlie's parents, knowing that too much of an immersion into the wizarding world would probably confuse or alarm them. However, this still made things difficult in trying to tell the Waldens that he could be in the cellar with their son while they could not.

"I have special protection in this case. It's a talent of mine. It will help him get through the night. And next time he will have the Wolfsbane Potion and everything will be much easier. You could even let him sleep in his own bedroom when he has the potion; he won't be any danger to himself or you then."

He took another step toward Mrs. Walden and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I need you to promise me that whatever you hear tonight, you will not go into the cellar. I know you love your son and he loves you too. But don't make the mistake that so many others have made in thinking that their loved ones will not be mentally affected in the transformation. Your son will kill you if you go down there, and so it is vital that you remain up here. There is nothing more tragic than a werewolf waking up the next morning and finding that he has killed someone he loved while he was completely unaware of his own actions."

Mrs. Walden nodded and gulped. "Has your friend ever done that?"

Sirius sighed. "No, thank God. He never would have been able to handle something like that. There are few who can."

Sirius took a look outside. "I should get down there."

Mrs. Walden nodded, tears in her eyes. Before he could make it to the stairs, Mr. Walden stopped him.

"You take care of him, Mr. Black."

Sirius knew that any sort of display of affection was difficult for this man, so he did his best to be reassuring. "Don't worry. He'll be fine. A little worse for the wear tomorrow, but nothing more."

Sirius walked down a few steps and waited to hear the locking of the door. He went back up and checked the door to be safe, testing it with his shoulder to make sure that it was sturdy. Then he walked down the flight of stairs, and found Charlie sitting on the floor.

"You talked to your mum and dad, right?"

The boy nodded. "When will you change?"

"I'll wait until you're most of the way through the transformation. I'll be more of a help to you that way."

"How much time do I have?"

"A few minutes at most."

Charlie looked out one of the tiny windows, trying to figure out when the moon was rising. "How did your friend wait for this every month?"

Sirius shrugged. "He would sit in a corner and try to calm himself down usually. It's easier when you're calm, at least that's what he says."

"I can't be calm."

"I know."

"I hate this."

"I know."

The boy paused. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Of course not."

"Why not?"

"Because you're still Charlie, no matter what you look like or how you act tonight."

The boy took a moment to think those words over. He stood up and started walking in a circle.

Sirius smiled. "You'll make yourself dizzy."

"It helps, though."

"Well, in that case…" Sirius joined Charlie walking in a circle. They walked in a circle for what felt like forever, and Sirius understood why it helped the boy.

Suddenly Charlie doubled over. He edged his way to the corner of the room put his hands up against the wall.

Sirius rushed to him. "Charlie?"

He threw up along the wall; a clear sign to Sirius of how much pain he was in.

"Charlie, turn around and look at me."

The boy turned around with tears in his eyes. Eyes that were turning a golden yellow.

"It hurts," he whispered.

Then he screamed.

Sirius knelt down in front of the boy, and Charlie grabbed onto his shoulders as his back began to crunch and rearrange itself. Sirius could feel claws digging into his skin now.

"Look at me, Charlie! Charlie, look at me!" Sirius shouted. "Don't focus on the pain, focus on your favorite place in the whole world. Focus on how it sounds and what the weather is like. What it smells like. Don't feel any of this now, push it from your mind!"

But Charlie couldn't answer him in words anymore. His face was changing, a snout elongating his face as he sprouted fur all over his body. His clothing ripped and tore, falling from his body in shreds. Sirius changed into his Animagus form.

The wolf wasn't very big, so Padfoot wasn't worried. When they had started transforming with Remus he had already been fifteen; the wolf had been nearly three times the size of Padfoot, and was still growing just as Remus was, but Sirius had learned to handle it. This wolf wasn't even twice the size of the shaggy dog. It would be much easier.

The wolf lay on the ground whimpering for the first half hour. The body was not used to the change and could not cope consciously right away. So Padfoot had curled up next to the furry form and waited. Eventually, the wolf stirred, his fur bristling in confusion. He leapt up and started growling at the black dog, demanding to know who he was.

But Padfoot wasn't really intimidated, though he didn't let the wolf know it. He simply stared the wolf in the eye, hoping that a trace memory would subconsciously surface and he wouldn't attack.

The wolf stared back at him for a long time, gnashing his teeth and clawing at the ground. He slowly approached the dog, circling him, trying to determine if he was a threat.

The dog sat.

The wolf was puzzled. He came closer to the dog. He kept his senses on high alert for anything that felt wrong.

The dog lay down.

The wolf wasn't sure what to make of this animal. It was clear that it wasn't going away, but it didn't seem to want to fight either.

The dog rolled over and bared his stomach.

The wolf was shaken off his guard. He nudged the dog in the stomach with his nose. And the young wolf now remembered what he really wanted now – to play. He nudged the dog again, this time with more force. The dog jumped up, tail wagging and eyes bright with mirth.

The wolf jumped at Padfoot and they began to wrestle. The dog made sure not to show any signs of dominance or distrust, just to show the wolf that they were having fun. But the wolf inevitably noticed something as they continued on. Something about the limitations of his space. He raced to the door of the cellar and scratched. Then he ran into the door, yipping when he hit too hard.

Padfoot barked, trying to get him down the stairs and away from the sense of confinement that was bound to build up now that the wolf noticed he had boundaries. The wolf retreated downstairs, but this time, he went to the tiny window at the opposite end. Jumping up and pawing toward the glass pane, the wolf whined, straining to see the outside light.

He howled at the moon.

Padfoot howled with him.

The wolf spent half of the night staring miserably out the small window, dying to be outside. He clawed at himself a few times, which the dog tried to stop, though he wasn't entirely successful. The wolf would then resume staring out the window when he was done tearing at himself. Padfoot sat beside him, waiting for him to snap out of it. He eventually did, and the two played for a few hours, exploring every crevice of the empty cellar and jumping at every little bug and rodent that happened across their path.

The wolf tired. His energy wasn't boundless, young as he was. He yawned, opening his mouth wide to show a set of very sharp teeth that Padfoot was glad he didn't have to worry about. The wolf curled up on the floor and gently put his head down. But he glanced up at Padfoot.

The dog lay down next to him.

He sighed deeply as the wolf started to drift off. It was nearly morning, and the transformation would wake the wolf when it reversed, but it was best to let him sleep while he could. Padfoot kept his eyes open and watched the young wolf all night.

* * *

As the moon sank low, Charlie's fur began to recede. Sirius quickly changed back and watched as the boy's features resumed. Charlie groaned and shouted a few times, but he was too tired to do much else. Eventually, he opened his eyes.

"Sirius?"

Sirius had already grabbed a blanket that had been stored up high where the wolf couldn't reach, and draped it over him. He placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "I'm here."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Sirius smiled. "Nope, not a scratch. We actually had a pretty good time, although you scratched yourself up a bit."

Charlie began feeling for his injuries. When he found them he winced. "Why did I do that?"

"You couldn't get outside. It made you sad."

Charlie blinked in amazement. It was hard to digest when he couldn't remember any of it.

"You need anything to eat?" Sirius asked.

The boy shook his head. "I'm a little too nauseous for that. Maybe later. As soon as the room stops spinning."

Sirius nodded and waited silently. He knew that at this time it was usually best to just be there. Words were not particularly important now. As long as Charlie knew that he wasn't alone.

The boy sat up eventually and he and Sirius started playing silly little games to keep themselves occupied. One particularly difficult one that Charlie called 'Hand Slap', turned the back of Sirius' hands bright red.

There was finally a knock at the door. "Is everything all right?" Mrs. Walden asked in a shaky voice.

"Yes, everything's fine, Mrs. Walden," Sirius called up as Charlie got to his feet.

The door unlocked and Mr. and Mrs. Walden both rushed downstairs to their son. Mrs. Walden shrieked when she saw the claw marks, and Mr. Walden kept sighing in relief as he reminded his wife that Charlie would get the Wolfsbane Potion next time and everything would be better.

"You were very brave, son. I'm proud of you."

"Can you eat, dear?" Mrs. Walden asked.

Charlie nodded tentatively. "I think I can now."

"Good! What would you like? I'll make you whatever you want!"

Sirius edged his way toward the stairs. "I have to get going. I have work today."

Mrs. Walden turned to him. "You mean, you came here to stay with our boy even though you have to go to work today?"

"I wasn't about to let him go through that alone, Mrs. Walden."

She threw her arms around Sirius, close to tears. "Bless you, Mr. Black."

Once she withdrew, Mr. Walden stepped forward and stretched out his hand to Sirius. "Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Black. I suppose that we will never really understand just how much you've done for our son. Only he really knows that."

Sirius shook the man's hand uncomfortably. He really didn't think it was necessary for them to be so overly grateful. "It was my pleasure, Mr. Walden."

But before he left, he turned to the boy, who didn't seem so pleased.

"Do you really have to go now?"

Sirius sighed. "I'm afraid so. My partner will kill me if I don't come in today."

"You mean your friend that came with you last time?"

Sirius chuckled inwardly at Charlie's continued perception of his relationship with Guinevere. "Yes, my friend. But don't worry. I'll come back and see you again. Maybe you'll get to meet my other friend next time."

Charlie gave him a small smile. Then he rushed forward and gave Sirius a hug. Sirius wrapped his arms around him and didn't let go until Charlie was ready.

"I'll see you soon."

Charlie followed Sirius up the stairs and to the door. His parents followed, and the whole family waved as Sirius walked back to his motorbike and drove off.

* * *

"Lupin, are you sure you're all right?"

It took Remus a few moments to realize that he was being addressed. When he finally did, he lifted his head up and blinked stupidly at Professor Snape.

Even _Severus_ was beginning to notice that something was up.

"What do you mean, Severus?"

"I mean, I don't think you've heard a word I've said in the past five minutes."

"Of course I have. You were talking about…" Remus blanched, much to his horror, and realized that he had absolutely no idea what Severus had been talking about. "Er…. Oh, I'm sorry, Severus. I'm just not in the best place today."

"You haven't been in the 'best place' for the past few _weeks_ is more accurate."

Remus sighed under the assault. Why wasn't Severus ever affected by anything? Why did he always have to have everything under control, so that no one could accuse him of faltering on occasion?

Remus used to be that way. He kept everything in check, no matter what the dilemma or how much it injured him. No one was ever allowed to know what he really thought about during the day, or what plagued him in the darkest hours. Until he had married _her_.

Now everything was on display. Because the wolf wasn't the only one feeling threatened now. As much as he hated to admit it, his two separate personas were merging in this particular instance. Ivy belonged to both of them. And now someone was threatening that.

"Lupin, kindly pay attention, this is rather important."

Remus' fingers curled up in frustration. "I'm sorry, Severus, I just have a lot on my mind lately. Please, continue."

"Start over, you mean," Snape snapped. Remus winced at the annoyance in his colleague's voice.

Severus paused to recompose himself before beginning again. "I have been having problems in figuring out what Mr. Malfoy should be doing as my assistant."

Remus' eyes narrowed. "Well, I suppose that is really a matter of how much you feel you can trust him with."

"Precisely. And at the moment, the young man has given me no cause to trust him with anything other than gathering supplies from the storerooms. I want to give him a great deal more responsibility because I believe that pulling his own weight will be a good experience for him. But at the moment, he is uncooperative."

"How so?"

"To start, he never says more than three words to me at a time."

Remus nodded understandingly. "Well, that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. He hasn't been speaking much to anyone, and I doubt he will until he is comfortable here."

"That could take years."

"Point taken."

"And he frightens the students."

Remus smirked. "Not to be rude, Severus, but so do _you_."

Snape rolled his eyes. "I intimidate the students. There is a difference. When you intimidate someone they respect you, Lupin. The students simply cower from Mr. Malfoy because they know about his past. I can't have the students feeling that way. It is detrimental to everything I hope to accomplish with him."

Remus thought for a moment. "I've never heard of intimidation being the best road to respect," he said with a small smile. Snape opened his mouth to retaliate, but Remus continued. "In regards to the rest, I think that the only way that the students will learn not to fear Draco is if they are constantly exposed to him."

"Yes, well that would be all well and good if he would talk in a classroom setting. But since he barely talks outside of one, I don't see how that will work."

Remus sighed. "Well, I'm not sure, then. I have a feeling that this is something that you and Draco will have to work out for yourselves."

"I'm not his babysitter, Lupin," Snape replied, sneering.

"I know, but you were the only teacher in this entire school that he ever respected. That's got to count for something. If anyone can reach him, you can."

Snape didn't seem entirely satisfied with Remus' answer.

"Do you want to talk to Ivy about it?"

"I would, but she has been very busy dealing with that American."

Remus' eyes narrowed. "Yes, she has."

Snape spotted the look on Remus' face. "You don't like him either, I take it."

Remus blinked, caught off guard. "Well, I , er…." He wanted to lie, but Snape was eyeing him steadily. He gave up under that stare. "No, I don't."

"Have you told her?"

"He's helping her. I have no place saying anything about him to her."

Severus raised an eyebrow at him in something that Remus swore resembled amusement. "It seems to me that you are the _only_ person who has a place saying something to her about him. But, I digress. Thank you for your time, Lupin."

Remus nodded politely and watched Severus walk away, feeling far more dejected and off-center than before.

* * *

Remus waited patiently in Ivy's office for her to return. It was getting late and he wanted to go look for her, but he reminded himself that she was a big girl and she would probably resent him coming to find her as if she had stayed out past curfew.

He actually did have to speak with her. For some reason, the rest of the staff assumed that since he was married to the headmistress, it would be fine if they simply relayed all of their messages to him and had him talk to Ivy. How Albus had managed to keep in touch with his staff without someone collecting messages for him, Remus would never know, although he was getting annoyed with how often everyone approached him with something he had to tell his wife.

The portraits were all dozing lightly, noted by the snoring throughout the room. All except for one. Albus' portrait remained alert, and Remus had a funny feeling that he was keeping an eye on him. He finally turned around to face the painting, tired of pretending that he didn't feel the twinkling gaze on him.

"Speak up. What's going on?"

The oil rendering of the former headmaster raised his eyebrows. "My dear Remus! I am surprised at the lack of your usual tact."

Remus sighed. "I apologize."

"I understand. He is bothering you."

Remus sat down in the chair behind the desk. He realized how odd it was that he was willing to share his problems with a painting, but at the moment, Albus was the only person he felt he could really trust. After all, he was a member of Ivy's family, and he had tried to tell Remus that he approved of his love for Ivy before Remus himself had been aware of it.

"Tell me I'm overreacting, Albus. Just tell me I am and I won't think on it anymore."

Albus tilted his head. "I wish I could, my friend. But I don't trust him any more than you do."

Remus blinked. "Then why don't you say something to her? She always listened to you. Tell her what you think and maybe she'll ask him to leave!"

"I would if I thought she might listen. But she won't." Remus opened his mouth to object, but Albus held up a hand to stop him. "Think what you will about my relationship with Ivy, but she has always done exactly as she pleased. If she hadn't, she would have never left for America after you two had your falling out. It is a quality, I believe," he said with that familiar twinkle, "she inherited from that mother whom she speaks of so fondly. Ivy never likes the feeling that someone is stepping on her toes. The moment she feels that someone is telling her what to do – "

" – She feels insulted," Remus finished. "I know. And it is an admirable trait, in many ways. I just wish – "

" – That you could say something just this once?" Albus finished. "I understand. Would you like to know what I suggest?"

Remus nodded vigorously.

"Be patient with her," the old man said gently. "One of Ivy's other most bothersome traits is that she is blindly trusting. It has hurt her on many occasions, and it probably will this time around, though I am not sure how. Just try not to be too cross with her for it. She loves you so dearly. She worries about you, you know."

Remus' brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"She talks to me all the time about you. She worries about your health, and lately," he said staring deliberately over his half moon spectacles, "she has been worried about how distant you seem to be."

Remus hissed out a breath through clenched teeth. "I don't mean to be. I've never had this hard a time controlling my instincts."

Albus was about to respond when a loud creak announced the opening of the door to the office. Remus turned around in the chair to find Ivy stepping inside. She closed the door behind her and looked up toward her desk, giving a small start when she found Remus sitting there.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, smiling.

"Waiting for you," he answered truthfully. "I have your daily messages, headmistress."

Ivy pulled a face that showed how much she was dreading that. "How urgent are they?"

"Not very," he answered with a grin.

"That's what I thought," she said. "Forget it. Let's go upstairs. I want some tea and a fire."

"You can get both of those things down here."

Ivy walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to his feet. "Yes, but down here there are portraits that spy and no places where we can both sit down together."

"Ah…"

"Come on."

Remus followed Ivy up the stairs. She muttered the password that unlocked their door and stepped inside. Once the door was closed, she turned around to face her husband and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Remus froze.

She smelled like _him_.

It chilled him to the bone to catch that scent on her. Nothing had happened between them – he would have been able to smell that the second she stepped into her office if it had – but they had to have been close all day for him to smell that.

Very close.

Clayton had to have been right at her back all the time, nose over her shoulder.

Ivy stepped back and stared at him. She looked hurt and confused, which didn't surprise Remus – he hadn't touched her at all.

"What is it?"

Remus shook his head to clear it. "Nothing," he said with as much of a smile as he could muster. "Nothing, I'm just tired."

"Still? Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Something like that…. What did you do today?"

"I took care of some legal things with the Ministry. Mailed off some papers. Clayton helped me sort it all, thank God, or it would have never gotten done. All the House lists have been officiated for the records. I had a meeting with Minerva and set up one with Severus for tomorrow."

Remus flashed back to his conversation with Severus.

_It seems to me that you are the _only _person…_

"Ivy," he began, "about Mr. Wilcott…"

"Yeah, what about him?" Ivy asked with a smile.

Remus decided to try a tactic rather than just come out and say what he meant. "Some of staff have been complaining about him."

"Really?" Ivy said, clearly surprised. "I wonder why. They don't see him very often since he's usually helping me. What did he do that would bother them?"

Remus pressed his lips together and sighed. "Well, it's not so much what he did, as how he acts. He's just been rubbing people the wrong way, I think."

Ivy waved a dismissing hand and walked toward the couch where their tea was waiting. "Oh, that's probably just because they're not used to having an American around. He is a bit of a cowboy, after all. That is bound to clash with someone as straight-laced as Minerva or Severus."

Remus gave up. She wasn't buying it.

"Yes, I'm sure you're right."

Ivy patted the couch next to her. "Sit down with me. I won't be up for much longer."

He walked over the couch and sat down, but not too close. The scent was bothering him. "Something to do early?"

"Well, I always jog on Wednesdays, but I have to meet Clayton by the fountains early so we can get started."

Remus nearly dropped the teapot that had been pouring tea into his cup. "He's going to jog with you now?"

"Yeah, says he likes having an exercise buddy. I'm going to show him my route tomorrow."

Remus stood up. "I'm going to bed."

Ivy looked hurt again and Remus tried not to feel guilty. "Why?"

"I'm really tired. I need to go to sleep."

Ivy dropped her head and stared at the tea tray. "Okay. I'll be in soon."

"Don't rush yourself, I'm fine," Remus tossed over his shoulder as he retreated into the bedroom.

He could feel her reaction to his brush off through nearly every sense he possessed. Heightened instincts be damned.

* * *

After a night of tossing and turning, Remus woke up early the next morning. He waited at the place where Ivy finished her jogs. He waited for a half hour until she showed up, Clayton in tow.

"What are you doing here?" she asked playfully.

Remus smiled. "Thought I'd wait for you so we could go to breakfast together."

"That was nice of you."

Remus nodded and turned his gaze immediately to Clayton. The man was gasping for air, red in the face. It was clear that despite his impressive build, long distance running was not something that he was used to. _'Exercise buddy' my eye…_

"Are you all right, Mr. Wilcott?" Remus asked lightly. "You look a bit worn out."

Clayton straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow. He was still a bit short of breath so Ivy started talking for him. "He's not used to the hilly terrain yet. It took him a while to get up to my pace."

Clayton smiled, placing a hand fondly on Ivy's shoulder. Remus' shoulders tensed.

"She's just too damn fast fer me!" he exclaimed jovially, tilting his head to eye Remus venomously. "Hard to keep up with a woman who has so much stamina!"

"Not if you have a little yourself," Remus replied, raising a superior eyebrow. The back of his brain was shouting at him that he was engaging in an exchange which was highly inappropriate, but he couldn't help himself. Not when Clayton's face sneered at the cold jab it had just been dealt.

Ivy thought it was a joke and thwacked Remus in the arm. "You! Stop trying to make our guest feel inadequate. He did a fine job for his first day."

Clayton grinned at her. "Why thank ya kindly, ma'am."

"Now, let's get some breakfast," Ivy said, making her way into the castle.

"Yes, let's," Remus responded, glaring at Clayton all the while. Clayton carefully glared back as they both followed Ivy into the castle.

* * *

Sirius had been half-asleep at work all day. He couldn't pull all-nighters the way he had when he was young, and the lack of sleep had made him sluggish. Guinevere had noticed and did scold him, though Sirius noticed that she was far gentler than she might have been since she knew why Sirius was tired.

He was glad to be back at home and was planning on going to bed as soon as he finished his second glass of firewhiskey. Raised voices upstairs caught his attention, but he quickly reminded himself that it was none of his business and returned to the amber-filled glass in front of him as he read the newspaper.

About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at his door. He didn't want to answer, but the knock sounded urgent. He only hoped that his partner wasn't in desperate need of salt or the like. His kitchen wasn't well stocked at the moment.

He opened the door and instead of Guinevere, he found Bruce on the other side. The man gave him a sheepish stare. "I hope you don't mind – she's in a bit of a mood right now, so I thought I'd drop in on you."

Sirius grinned. "Not at all, come in." He raised the glass in his hand. "Firewhiskey?"

"That would be great, thanks."

Sirius got out another glass from the kitchen and walked back to Bruce. He filled the glass and handed it to him. "Sit down," he directed.

Bruce sat down in the chair nearest to Sirius and stared into the bottom of the glass.

"You look like you've got a problem."

Bruce glanced up and shrugged. "Just her. Always her."

Sirius decided to finally ask the question that had been bugging him for a long time. "So what is her problem? Really."

Bruce grimaced. "Are you sure you want to know? If I tell you, you can't say anything to her."

Sirius crossed his heart with a finger. "I swear she won't hear a word from me."

Guinevere's brother took a deep breath. "How much do you know about her life after Hogwarts?"

"Nothing."

"She hasn't mentioned anything?"

"Not a word. Except for the fact that she doesn't have many friends and doesn't do anything interesting on the weekends. But she only told me that when I pissed her off and forced it out of her."

Bruce nodded. "That doesn't surprise me. She wasn't exaggerating, you know. About what she does most of the time. But it's not just because she's that wrapped up in her work."

"Okay, I'll bite. What happened?"

"… Did she mention that she was married?"

Sirius choked on his firewhiskey. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. For five years. Got married when she was twenty-five. Guy named Alec. He was a foreigner."

"What country?"

"Ah, I don't remember."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You don't remember the native country of the man who married your twin sister?"

"Well, I never liked him much. He had some accent. French or Italian or something."

Sirius shook his head in amazement. "So dear Guinevere was married…. What went wrong?"

"He started blaming her for things. Claimed that she wasn't emotionally ready to be a wife, started staying away from the house. It went on for a few _years_ like that. Finally, he tells her that he's found someone who 'understands him' and runs off. She finds out later that it was a friend of hers from school."

"Bloody hell…"

Bruce snorted. "You're telling me. Sounds like one of our stupid muggle television programs, doesn't it? But after that, she closed off a lot. Stopped seeing friends, going out. She got her job while they were married, and I think she decided to do it because she felt so lonely. But that only distanced him more. Said she cared more about her job than their marriage, and other nonsense like that."

Sirius didn't know what to say. It certainly explained a few things, but it left him with far more questions than answers.

"You know what the worst part is?" Bruce whispered. "She still thinks it's her fault. She thinks that she is the reason that she's alone. She doesn't like herself. Not really. I mean, if she heard me say that she'd just snap at me and tell me I was being ridiculous, but it's true. She has no real self-confidence. The only things she thinks she's good at are schoolwork, reading, her job, and cooking. That's why she never tries to date."

"Well…" Sirius faltered. His perception of the woman upstairs had just been turned on its head. He wasn't quite sure what to do. "I was never a big fan of hers while we were growing up, but I know she never did anything to deserve that. No one deserves to be back-stabbed like that."

"Tell me about it," said Bruce, taking a swig from his glass. "Thanks for the whiskey."

"No problem. So what were you two arguing about?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just the usual: I want her to get out of the house and do something for herself, she wants me to mind my own business. She needs a boyfriend. Badly."

"She probably needs to get laid," Sirius said loudly. When he realized that he had spoken those words out loud, he promptly shut his mouth and set his firewhiskey on the table next to him. Clearly, he'd had enough.

Luckily, Bruce only laughed. "You're probably right about that. It's been a long while for her, I know that. I've been trying to get her out, but it just doesn't work. There's this one guy that I really think she should go after, but she's not listening to me."

"And who might he be?" Sirius asked.

Bruce grinned slyly, but Sirius was too tipsy to catch the look. "Oh, no one in particular…. But if you could ever get her out of the house at some point, that would be great. Take her out somewhere. A bar or a club or something. Somewhere she can be around people."

Sirius was trying hard not to laugh. "A bar or a club? Your sister? That's like sticking a centaur in the middle of a herd of hippogriffs – there are similarities, but they just don't mix."

"Teach her how," Bruce pleaded. "She won't go anywhere with me. If you could get her to do it once, I'd be grateful."

Sirius thought for a moment. "I can't make any promises. She doesn't really like me, in case you hadn't noticed."

But Bruce only smiled. "Thanks."

They sat for a while discussing other things. Bruce went over the sport of football again for Sirius' benefit, so he wouldn't be totally lost when he went to the game. Eventually, Bruce stood up.

"I should get going."

Sirius stood up to see him to the door. "All right. Thanks for dropping by. Feel free to do it any time."

Bruce thanked him and left. Sirius put the glasses in the sink, cast a cleaning spell, and decided to go for a walk in the night air.

* * *

Guinevere was sitting outside at the back of the flat. She had just meant to take out her garbage, but seeing how beautiful the night sky was, she just couldn't bring herself to go back in. So she found the old, wooden bench that rested in the small backyard of the flat and stared out, thinking to herself. It was one of the few peaceful activities that she allowed herself from time to time.

After a while, she heard rustling nearby. She looked off in the direction that the noise was coming from, trying to figure out what caused it. Eventually she saw something stir the low bushes to her left. She tensed, wondering what was making the sounds, hoping that it wasn't a boggart. Tonight was not a good night for her to be dealing with boggarts.

Finally, it emerged from the bushed. But it was not a boggart, nor was it any other magical creature. It was a shaggy black dog. Guinevere smiled.

"Hello. What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

The dog walked over to her and barked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she responded. "I don't know what you're saying. Wish I did. I could use another person to talk to besides that daft brother of mine."

The dog tilted his head curiously at that comment and sat at her feet.

"Well, aren't you friendly?" Guinevere said, reaching out to pat the dog on the head. His fur was soft and shone blue in the moonlight.

"It's sort of silly that I'm talking to you, isn't it?"

The dog looked up at her, his large eyes unblinking. Guinevere peered back questioningly. Those eyes were familiar somehow…

"It's strange, but I feel as though I've seen you before somewhere. But that couldn't be, could it? There are no dogs on this block."

She shivered as a cool wind swept through the yard. The dog leaned against her legs, his warm body shielding her as much as he could.

Guinevere moved her hand to his ears and started scratching. "You're a rather perceptive animal, aren't you?"

The dog sighed and laid his head in her lap, clearly won over by the ear scratching.

"You don't belong to Sirius, do you?" she eventually thought to ask. "I don't know why I asked that; I haven't seen or heard any animals over at his house."

The dog seemed uninterested in her rambling and nudged her hand with his nose to get her ear scratching started again.

"All right, all right!" she laughed. "Persistent one, aren't you? I bet you always get exactly what you want."

The dog barked, probably in affirmation.

They sat like this for a long while. Eventually the dog lifted his head and looked off in the direction he had come from.

"Oh, have to go, do you?" Guinevere guessed. "Well, I suppose that's fine. It's rather common that no one chooses to stick around."

The dog seemed to blink sadly at her comment, but Guinevere was sure she was seeing things.

He raised a paw to her and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you," she said good-naturedly. "Come back if you're ever in the neighborhood."

The dog barked once more before taking off into the bushes.

Guinevere stayed outside, still not caring to go in. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps. She turned around.

"Oh. It's you."

"What a kind greeting!" he replied, spreading his arms in mock gratefulness. He walked over to where she sat. "Budge up."

She blinked up at him, surprised, but moved over all the same. Sirius sat down next to her, folding his arms across his chest and looking upward.

"What are you doing out here?" she finally asked.

"Bird watching," he replied without missing a beat.

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "You never stop do you?"

"Should I?"

She shrugged. "It might be nice to hear the real you just once."

He glanced over at her, more a than a little surprised. "So now there is a real me. I'm not some heartless prat with a bad sense of humor?"

She didn't respond.

"I could say the same about you, you know."

"That I'm a heartless prat with a bad sense of humor?"

"Careful, my dear Guinevere. You're on the verge of being witty. Wittiness is akin to a sense of humor, which is akin to being human."

She laughed quietly. "So you think you don't hear the real me either?"

"You tell me."

She sighed. "You're probably right. Does it really matter?"

"It matters to you."

"Maybe."

They sat in silence for a while.

"So, you know any dogs around here?"

"There aren't any, far as I know."

"One came and sat with me for a while. Before you came out here."

"What did he look like?"

"Big, shaggy, all black. Beautiful eyes. Really friendly."

"Never seen him."

"…Oh."

* * *

There we are! Did you like it? Did you, did you? I hope so. And you'll probably like the next chapter too. No singing, but… well, have you ever wondered what would happen if Sirius did certain illegal substances? How about Remus (without his own knowledge, of course)? If you ever wanted to know, the next chapter is for you (I will give you the story of how the scene came about in the next author's note)! Also if you want to know what's next with Clayton, what Sirius' next job assignment is, and how football games go, naturally you will have to stay tuned…

Please review! It is my life source! Next chapter should be up in no longer than a month!


	6. Brownies, Invisibility, and Football

Disclaimer: Is unnecessary. The day I start saying that I own any of this is the day that you can ship me off to a nice room with padded walls…

**Author's Note:** I'm getting good, aren't I? This wasn't even a month for the wait! See, see, I promised! So it's looks like there will be at least a chapter a month, if not more for the rest of this ride. I hope that's good for everyone, because I would feel terrible making my betas do my edits before their schoolwork, thus getting them kicking out of their very expensive and prestigious colleges.

IMPORTANT: In regards to where the story is going, I have been writing like a maniac for this baby, and I will just say that this story is taking me many interesting and wonderful places. It's not the story I had originally planned in my head, but the good news about that is that it is a better story than when I started. So if you were expecting certain things that aren't showing up, just bear with me. It's always a good sign when your stories start writing themselves…. And when you make your beta readers cry… poor betas…

IMPORTANT AS WELL: I would like everyone to keep in mind that according to the HP Lexicon and other sources, Bill Weasley would have been in school while the Marauders were there (clearly five or six years younger), so if you see him anywhere - and I'm not saying you will… :cough: - don't get confused and tell me that he wasn't in school at the same time. And this chapter contains references to the Jekyll and Hyde sections of the story that came before this, Echoes In Eternity. If you haven't read it, this will be confusing for you. As for the football, I tried to make it as accurate as I could, but I know very little about - at leastI chose names of real teams and players! Okay. I think that covers that.

ALSO! For anyone who wants to know how the first section of this chapter came about: One of my lovely betas, Kate, and I were talking about HP, as we do often. As usual, funny sequences with the Marauders surfaced, because really, they're just so much fun to think of crazy scenarios for ;) At one point one of us made the comment that it would be really funny to see the Marauders high. I think I ended up saying that it would be even funnier if Sirius got Remus high without telling him (brownie style, because we all know that Remus wouldn't smoke, and would know when something didn't smell like tobacco). Thus, this scene was born. I hope it makes you laugh ;0) And now onto your reviews!

anubis04: It will never be abandoned! Never:insert evil laugh: It was your first and favorite? That makes me all blushy and stammery… gee… thanks… ;) I'm glad you liked the flashback with the singing. 'Cause let's face it, Sirius and Bowie just work so wonderfully together. Wow, now I'm seeing it really made into a musical. That's awesome. How about we team up and produce it on Broadway right now? And thanks for keeping the pressure off me. Really, I just needed to get my muse back for a while back there. But now it's back and I just have to get my betas used to getting lots of material again so they beta faster. I'm so bad – it's during midterm time, and I just can't stop writing. I get very little sleep for this, but it's worth it :)

Brielle Lupin: Oh, I'm sorry that your review got mostly erased! I hate when this website acts up like that, it drives me nuts (especially when you take a long time to do something)! But I'm glad you let me know 'cause I love getting your reviews. Hopefully it will be good to you this time… or I will beat it with my wand…

Alora05: Yay, I made you happy and sunshiney! That's my goal in life, you know. And you like Sirius and Gwen, which makes me supremely happy because I'm having too much fun with them. And Sirius is a precious baby – he gets hugs all the time (in my head…). Punching Clayton is certainly allowed. Draco has some stuff to work through, naturally, and it will take time. I'll be interested to see what you think of it. Now go onward to get your personal dose of Sirius on drugs!

MackenzieW: Ooo, what were you running lights for? The only job I've ever done on the full tech side is props master (and stage manager and ass. stage manager, if you count them there). Otherwise I'm out on the stage because that's the way it works in my family – we're all performers. But I love crew, they're the best people in the world. Hmm, compare notes, eh? Jackson and Clayton… they sound like no-good, smarmy, tricky bastards. I hope they both get their just-desserts… A baby Molly! Aw! I know what you mean about Harry and Ginny, I was ecstatic when they got together. And I'm not worried about Book 7 because he still loves her, so they have to end up together. They just have to! And poor Gwen indeed. As far as her ex is concerned… well, I won't tell you, but I will say that it was too much fun to write. They're special, the two of them. And I'm glad that you liked the conversations that Remus had – I love having Albus' painting around to play with, and Snape is just always fun (but don't tell him I said so, or he'll never let me write him again). Unfortunately, Ivy has a habit of being a bit dense about everything – don't expect her to understand Remus' distance (that's my way of explaining that this doesn't get solved for a while, sadly). I hope you enjoy what's next!

Sirius-Ella: Oh, I'm happy you liked! Yeah, I love writing anything with Charlie and Sirius, so I'm glad that you enjoyed it. And Snuffles with Guinevere, of course. Because I just couldn't resist writing that ;) Enjoy the next chapter!

Camilinha: Aw, thanks so much for your compliments! Yes, Clayton is very much an asshole. This I know, as I did design him that way ;) As far I Ivy is concerned, her not noticing it is one of her major character flaws from way back in the story that came before this. It's gonna take a while for her to find out. And don't worry, there's lots more coming up with all of them. Sirius and Guinevere are going to take some time, naturally. They're not in the right place to really open up to each other yet, but they'll get there, I promise. And Remus and Charlie will meet, that's also coming up soon. Remus does sing too (he's sung before in the first story, so his voice is gorgeous, of course, because I would never write him any differently:) ), in this chapter, actually. Hope you like it!

Rotae: Yay, you picked out my favorite snarky Remus line from the last chapter! I would say that the only reason that POA is my favorite over HBP is because I miss Sirius so much. Because I loved everything about HBP, really, it was so well done. I worry for Draco and Snape, though. I have this unshakable feeling that she's going to kill one of them (and I keep thinking that it's Draco). I don't think that Draco and Harry will ever be friends and if they work together, it will be the most amusing situation ever because they'll just get on each other's nerves the whole time. And you liked Sirius and Bowie! Yay! Yeah, I don't see Sirius as a true glam rocker (going all the way with the clothes and the makeup and actually sleeping with boys), but it was just too much fun to play with – you know he'd love the music and he would love being androgynous. And I'm happy that you thought James' reaction worked, because there's no way that boy would understand that :giggle:…. Yay, Firefly! Yeah, I'm hooked on that series. Don't know much about Whedon-verse besides it, though (I've always watched more of what was on sci-fi, like Farscape and Quantum Leap and Star Trek and the like). But I love Firefly far too much. Probably have some more fic in the works for that one soon. It would be hilarious if Joss directed HP 7! He'd love getting to kill everyone (starts crying as I remember Serenity)! Yeah, they should let him do that one ;)

abesapien: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the Sirius/Remus interaction. I love writing their friendship, it's so interesting (and there's more to come for the two of them). And, of course, you're right Ivy wouldn't mind the wolf side coming out more (because we all know how sexy that is), but it's Remus and he's getting paranoid. And I'm glad you liked the dinner, and Bruce and the rest. And that you like Sirius and Guinevere, of course:) And yay, you think Clayton is written well, even though he's a big jerk – you always get worried that you're not writing a character well when they are not likable, so I'm glad you think he comes off well. Now onward for more chapterness!

Radiant: Yes, I made you love Sirius even more! I so glad! Because I love him very much ;) Thanks for letting me know what you thought, and thanks reading my Firefly fic! I was a fan before the movie came out (which made Wash's death the worst crushing blow ever – I was bawling for the rest of the day), but I'm glad that Serenity got you into it, it is such a wonderful show.

LadyLupinLover: Thanks! ;)

TheMysteriousPhoenix: Oh, good, you liked Sirius and Charlie! I love them way too much. And you're liking Guinevere, which gives me much relief, of course. I'm glad that you enjoy her complexities, I think they make her far more interesting as a character. As far your hint goes, you're absolutely right, she does need a nice make out session, and she's going to get one and great deal more on top of it, it'll just take some time (my little hint to you ;) )…

SchnugsAllAround: Best compliment ever! You've found the way into any writers heart – by telling them that the feelings of their character are tangible and you empathize with them. I'm so flattered. And I agree, I get very annoyed with people's tendencies to portray Sirius as such a shallow character. He has so many wonderful layers that people choose to ignore, and that seems so wrong to me. So I'm glad that you're liking him, and I hope that this chapter continues to entertain!

A.C.L.T.: It's Chii! Hi! Oh, I'll happily take the blame for reigniting Bowie obsession – I'm pretty bad myself, totally in love with the man. And you definitely brought up my favorite Sirius line from that chapter, so brownie points for you! I'm glad that you're enjoying him – I keep saying that the way people write him usually makes me uncomfortable because they write him so shallow, and while he can be arrogant and egotistical, I would never say he was shallow or uncaring. I mean, his key characteristics that Rowling continually shows are his loyalty and his guarding of those he loves and the buoyancy he had in his youth. Why do people write him like a bastard so much? You borrowed the past/present style for your story? How's it working for you? And I'm happy that you're enjoying Charlie, I love that little boy. I'll be interested to know what you think of the next new character who is coming into the story now. And you like Bruce! Oh, good, because he's a special guy, and his hints always make me laugh. And it's good to know that you think everything with Remus and Ivy is going well. I liked the idea of putting Remus in a position where the wolf would have reason to merge and put him on edge. It's something that I've seen people handle very strangely, and I wanted the opportunity to try it my own way, so it's relieving to know that you think it works (PS – thank you for not asking me why Ivy does not know Clayton is a jerk – I think people have forgotten that it's one of her great character flaws, which makes her a real person, and I was so glad that you know that). And now I'm blushing because you gave me such wonderful comments, and if I ever do write a book (I've actually had an idea for one – it would take a long time to get it all out, but you never know), you will be the first to know about it! goes to the corner to feel humble and special while you read chapter

Chineselaquer: Wow, hi! It's so good to hear from you (I can understand your frustration with – they infuriate me all the time, and it's hard to wade though all of the so-so stuff on here and get to the good stuff):) And I can't thank you enough for such lovely compliments. Just knowing that there are people who appreciate this the way that you do makes me remember why I wrote it in the first place, so thank you again. I'm interested to know what the difference is in our writing styles, since writing style in itself is such a fascinating topic – what would you depict your style as? Hope you like this chapter as well!

Aldavinur: Yup, David Bowie. Listen to him. He really is a god, Sirius wasn't joking ;) And I'm glad that you liked the section still even though you'd never heard Bowie and thank you so much for such a wonderful compliment! You definitely got all the right things out of the scene with Charlie. I'm happy that you liked Sirius with him, and that you thought the transformation worked well. Charlie is definitely supposed to remind you of Remus  Yeah, I know the whole thing with Remus and Ivy is tough right now. You're right, Remus should talk to her… but Remus has never exactly been good at admitting that something or someone makes him upset. So it's not going to work out so easily, unfortunately. But don't worry, it can't stay bad forever! Read and enjoy!

Valhalla96: I'm glad I got your favorite Bowie song! Gosh, what's my favorite Bowie song…? brains fries as it is impossible for me to name only one And you thought it was funny, yay! Oh yeah, I remember biting the back of my hand to keep from laughing when I read fic late at night at home. It's nice to be in college – don't have to worry about it anymore ;) I'm so happy that everyone is responding so well to Charlie and Sirius. I love those two, and I really think that Charlie makes some interesting points as a character, so it's good to know that everyone likes him. And you're right, Remus needs to talk to Ivy… that won't happen for a while, sorry to say. I promise that there's an overarching reason, though, and while it will seem to get much worse, it also gets much better… if that made any sense… I'm glad that you like Bruce too. As for Guinevere's past, it is harsh, but I saw no reason why she would have had an easy-going life up until that point – and in my brain she always struck me as the kind of person who could get hurt easily because she just isn't good at reading people and understanding them. She wouldn't see the signs that her marriage was a total sham until her husband started pushing her away. She's sad that way, poor girl, despite how tough she seems to be. Now go onward to find out what stoned pups are like! Thanks so much for telling me what you think!

Amber Magic: Heeheehee! Sneaky devil! I couldn't have put it better myself. You're absolutely right, it will take a while for Sirius and Guinevere to get it, but so far (I've written a lot more than has been posted – it's just getting the betas to edit it) I love how they've been developing. Nice and slow, and realistically. You like my OCs! Oh, that makes my life, just so you know. Bruce is such a cutie, I'm glad you like him. As for Ron and Hermione, they haven't been coming up yet (I had originally planned them to, but suddenly they weren't fitting in with how everything was working – I'm hoping they'll show up later, but right now I want to make sure that they don't show up in a place where they shouldn't be, which would be worse). Oh, I will _make_ you love Sirius! One of my primary goals in life is to make sure that people understand why he's a great character – they keep writing him as a shallow, nasty bastard, and it makes me angry, because JKR did not intend him that way. He's flawed, but in a very understandable way. He needs slack. So I'm really glad that you're liking him, it makes me five hundred kinds of happy. Remus is my favorite too, of course, so I certainly will do a joyful dance because you're liking him. Ah, kicking Clayton's butt. I wish he would… Now read and I hope you like it all!

AND NOW, COMING AT YOU LIVE FROM… A COMPUTER SCREEN: a chapter?

Right, a chapter.

_**Chapter Six – Brownies, Invisibility, and Football**_

**THEN – **Marauder Seventh Year

James was practicing on the Quidditch Pitch. He'd likely be out for hours. So Sirius came up with a small plan to further his friendship with Remus.

He had tried so many times to get their bookish Marauder to share more with him, but Remus seemed intent on staying tight-lipped about everything. And Sirius really wanted to talk with him. Just to find out what really went on in that cautious, calculating mind.

He was waiting on the far side of the grounds, only three trees away from the Whomping Willow. It was secluded enough there that Sirius knew no one would bother them. He took a knife and cut into the baking pan in front of him. Oh, he definitely had a plan.

A few minutes later, a head of light brown hair appeared, making its way steadily over to where Sirius was sitting. The young man stopped in front of his friend on the ground and stared down at him with a look of bewilderment.

"You sent your owl to get me? That's a new level of laziness, even for you, Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the almost-scolding. "Oh, spare me, Remus. Sit down."

Remus did as he was requested, but he still eyed Sirius with suspicion. "Why are we here?"

"Because the common room is always crowded, and everyone always barges into our room without asking."

"That would be James and your fault. I can't help that you're the two most popular boys in school."

Sirius put up his hands, as if to defend himself from the incoming lecture that he knew was forming in Remus' head. "All right, I give up. So we're out here instead, okay?"

Remus' eyes found the baking pan at Sirius' feet. "What are those?" he asked, pointing.

Sirius smiled. He did have to give himself a certain amount of credit – he knew that Remus wouldn't be able to say no to chocolate, especially so soon after a full moon.

"Brownies. The house elves made me a batch. They claim that this is the best batch that they've made all year." _Well, not really, but I'm sure that they are, considering that I told them what to put in them, and they didn't ask questions about the ingredients I gave them. Bless Andromeda for sending me the best birthday presents._

"There's chocolate chips in them… they're all nice and melted…. Want one?"

"Sure."

Sirius tried his best not to laugh as Remus took the brownie he had lifted from the pan for him and bit into the corner. He licked the crumbs from the corner of his mouth and allowed himself a moment to assess the flavor of the dessert.

And he was clearly satisfied because he took another bite.

Sirius got one for himself and proceeded to eat with his friend.

"So why are we out here again?"

"I never really told you the first time you asked," Sirius reminded him.

"Oh. Right." Remus was apparently okay with that answer because he didn't pursue the line of questioning any further than that.

Sirius was waiting for some sort of sign that everything was taking affect. It took another minute or two for him to get the response that he was looking for –

Remus started to giggle. For no apparent reason.

"You all right, Moony?"

"Oh, fine, just fine."

Sirius was beginning to feel the effects of the baked goods himself, so he was confident that he had not misread Remus' signs. Especially when Remus started giggling again.

"All right, what is it?"

Remus pursed his lips and tried to laugh through his nose to muffle the sound, which made him sound like an elephant. "Quidditch."

"Quidditch?"

"I just realized what a hilarious sport it is," Remus began, still laughing. "I mean, you spend the entire game trying to get a ball through a ring. How pointless is that?"

Though Sirius was well aware of the fact that he himself loved Quidditch, he had to admit that the brownies were doing their job, because at that moment, he found Remus' comment absolutely uproarious.

"You're right! Wow, I think that we should go tell James!"

Remus nodded and then put a hand up to stop Sirius. His body language was becoming comically exaggerated. "Yes, but not… right now…"

"Yeah, not now…"

"Padfoot, did you know that chocolate is an aphrodisiac?"

Sirius blinked stupidly. "Really?"

"Um-hm, and I think it's working because I feel better than I've felt in a long time."

"Meaning that you haven't been feeling good otherwise?"

Remus waved around a dismissing hand for a good while. "Well, the show definitely made my life far more complicated. I'm really glad it's over. The only thing left to stress out over is the N.E.W.T.s."

Sirius leaned forward in a conspiratory fashion. "The show made your life more complicated? What the bloody hell does that mean, Remus? Why do you always talk like everything has to be in bloody code?"

Remus giggled again, this time clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle the noise. "Because I'm a werewolf," he said rather loudly, Sirius fortunately having enough common sense left to shush him. "That makes me reluctant to say anything about how I feel."

The back of Sirius' brain was very happy about how far he was getting already into his friend's brain. "Why's that?"

Remus' over-bright demeanor suddenly changed to a drunken-and-confused-sort-of-angry manner. His eyes scrunched up and his mouth twisted nervously. "Oh, how should I know! That's just the way it is. But the show made me very uneasy because I thought that Ivy and I wouldn't be friends anymore once it was done."

"Why's that?" Sirius realized that he had repeated himself, but also realized that he didn't care.

"Because!" Remus shouted exasperatedly. "Well, I mean, it's just…. Well, you know, I think I'd be a little uncomfortable if one of my friends was feeling me up a few times every day."

"Ah-ha!" Sirius exclaimed. "So you admit to feeling her up!"

"Diana told me I had to! It wasn't really serious feeling up, just sort of the general idea!"

"A likely story!"

When Remus rolled his eyes they went all the way up into his head before coming back. "Oh, Sirius, I really don't care about what you think of the whole thing. You're probably just jealous because that show allowed me to go farther with a girl than you ever have."

Sirius' mouth dropped open, but he found he had nothing to say to that. When Remus was right, he was right. Instead, he donned his best social worker voice. "We're not here to discuss my problems with intimacy at school, Remus. We're here to talk about you."

Remus laughed harder than necessary, but remained on subject. "What is it with you anyway? You have half of the school falling at your feet, but the most you've ever done is snog with a few of them at inopportune times. There's got to be some deep-rooted reason for that kind of paranoia."

"It's not paranoia!" Sirius retorted. "The next time some girl asks _you_ to snog with her, you see how comfortable you feel about doing it on the Quidditch pitch. Or the common room. Or the rooftop. Or the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Every place in this school is tainted by your own experiences. No place feels romantic or even like a good place to 'get in the mood'. You just think about the time that you and your friends sat up there all night telling stupid jokes, or the time that you had class or detention there, and then McGonagall's face is in your head, and that ruins the entire experience."

Remus shuddered. "That would make me sterile, I think."

"Precisely."

There was a short pause before Sirius finally blurted out something that he had wanted to know since fourth year.

"So when are you just going to snap, take Ivy up to our room, and shag her?"

Remus did a dramatic double take before grabbing another brownie from the baking pan. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Are you sure that wasn't a question that you intended to ask Prongs?"

"No, I'm practically positive that Prongs has no intention of shagging Ivy."

"I meant that you would change Ivy's name with Lily's and – "

"No, I definitely meant to ask you."

Remus took a bite of brownie before starting again, an incredulous look crossing his face. "Padfoot… Ivy and I are _not_ that way…"

"Why not?"

"Because we have a perfectly fine friendship, that's why!" Remus exclaimed. "And we're not attracted to each other like that – "

"Not attracted to each other, my arse," Sirius mumbled under his breath quite loudly. "Are you really sure that's the reason?"

Remus nodded resolutely. "Of course it is."

Sirius sighed. "And you've never wanted to, then? With anyone?"

"My mind doesn't operate on that level," Remus said stuffily, though Sirius could tell he was about to laugh, and he wasn't sure if it was because Remus wasn't being serious or he was just being affected by brownies.

"Yeah, right," he shot back. _There's not a teenage boy alive whose mind doesn't operate on that level…_

Remus laughed oddly again. "I'm not gentlemanly all the time, am I?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "The only times I've ever seen you be uncivil were during the show and the time after I got Snape to go into the Whomping Willow."

Remus' eyes darkened somewhat at the mention of that, but his addled brain wasn't able to stay there for long, and he was soon off again. "Well, my thoughts aren't always saintly."

Sirius' head perked up. They were about to go somewhere intriguing. "Really? Like when?"

Remus shrugged. "There are just certain thoughts that I don't voice out loud."

"Such as…?"

"They don't really bear discussion, Sirius."

Sirius's head lowered. Every time he thought Remus would say something worthwhile…

"Ivy has this one nightgown that she has to watch out for," Remus began. He beckoned Sirius closer with a finger so he could whisper, though his whisper was very loud, which he clearly didn't realize. "That white one? When she stands by the window and there's enough moonlight – " he held a hand up to the side of his mouth as though he were whispering to Sirius alone, even though anyone within thirty feet could have heard him. " – it gets very see-through. I don't think she notices, but some of the other gents in the common room are beginning to stare."

Sirius widened his eyes in mock amazement. "Wow, I'm really surprised that you think about things like that, Remus. The rest of us blokes, we were beginning to wonder about you."

Remus looked slightly affronted. "I'm fucking _human_, Sirius…" he retorted in a lazy drawl.

That was exactly what Sirius wanted to hear. "So then you must think more about stuff like that than you let on to."

"I suppose," Remus responded before looking down at his hands. "These are really good brownies," he began, bringing his up to his face so he could stare at it properly.

"Amen to that."

A few seconds later, Remus started giggling again.

"What?"

"Your name is Black!"

Sirius nodded slowly. "Yes…"

"Your name is Black and your robes are black! That's hilarious!"

Sirius slowly understood and started laughing too. "You're right! How could I have never noticed that before! We should tell James!"

"Yes, but not right now."

"Yeah, not now…"

Sirius stared at the night sky for a moment, and another question snuck into his head. "What's your favorite color?"

"What?"

"Favorite color. We've been friends for so long and I've never asked you."

"It's blue."

"What kind of blue?"

"What kind of blue?" Remus repeated confusedly.

"Yeah, what shade like?"

"Periwinkle blue."

Sirius grinned slyly. "Like the color of Ivy's eyes?"

"Yeah…. Her eyes are really entrancing. I remember being shocked when I met her – it's not every day that you meet a person who has eyes that are your favorite color – and I thought, 'she has the most beautiful eyes of anyone I know'."

"No, Lily has the most beautiful eyes of anyone we know."

"Hmmm…" Remus pondered that for a moment, as if he couldn't make up his mind.

"Well, my favorite color is black," Sirius tossed in.

"As if no one could guess," Remus said with an eye roll. He started to laugh again.

"What?"

"Your name is Black, your robes are black, and your favorite color is black too!"

They both guffawed loudly, Sirius tipping over on his side.

Suddenly, a voice came from a dozen yards away. "Sirius, Remus, what you doing?"

They turned and spotted a young boy with bright red hair and a navy blue sweater sporting the letter 'B'.

"Bill, go back to the common room!" they hastily shouted in unison.

"All right, all right!" the boy cried with his hands up in the air. He turned around and took off like a shot toward the castle.

Sirius shook his head and ran a hand absentmindedly through his perfect hair. "Second years," he mumbled, as if they caused him trouble on a daily basis.

"He's a good student," Remus threw in randomly.

"Remus, how do you feel about Ivy, then?" Sirius blurted out. He dazedly realized that he was coming back to that subject a lot, but he wanted answers, and he wasn't getting enough. He hoped that his comment was unexpected enough to throw his friend off-guard.

Remus paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking it over. But what he said was, "Sirius, let's sing something."

Sirius could see that Remus was getting particularly disjointed now, and it was probably a good idea to humor him. "What do you want to sing?"

"I don't know. Pick something."

Sirius sat still, pondering his possibilities. Finally, he came out with –

"_I am the very model of a modern major general – "_

"No!" shouted Remus, cutting him off. "Not that one! Please! Anything but that one!"

"Okay."

Sirius took another minute or so to think of a new one.

"_I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in_

_And stops my mind from wandering_

_Where it will go…"_

Remus smiled and sang the second part of the verse.

"_I'm filling the cracks that ran through the door,_

_And kept my mind from wandering_

_Where it will go…"_

Sirius came in with an "Oooooo", and then they both joined in on the chorus.

"_And it really doesn't matter_

_If I'm wrong, I'm right._

_Where I belong I'm right_

_Where I belong_

_See the people standing there_

_Who disagree and never win,_

_And wonder why they don't get in my door?"_

"And what are you two doing out here?"

Sirius shrieked like a girl and Remus cracked up again.

"Ivy!" Sirius cried. "What are you… - it is way past your bedtime young woman!"

Ivy raised an amused eyebrow. "Really? I could say the same about you, I suppose. Now what are you two doing out here?"

"Padfoot," Remus whispered in the same overloud voice he had been using earlier, "don't tell Ivy what I said about her earlier."

"Okay, Moony," Sirius whispered back at the same volume. "I'm sure that she can't hear you _right now_."

Remus nodded. "It's a good thing too."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

Ivy glanced back and forth between the two of them interestedly. "Okay, I have a feeling I don't want to know, so why don't you two just come back with me to the common room. Lily says that if you two aren't back before ten, friends or no friends, she will perform her duties as Head Girl and report you."

"Lily's no fun," Sirius said quite seriously.

"Well, you better come with me anyway."

Remus and Sirius stood up giggling, and began following Ivy back toward the castle. As they were walking, she happened to glance back at what Sirius was carrying.

"Sirius, is that what I think it is?"

"What?" Sirius said nonchalantly, hiding the pan behind his back.

"Hold it." Ivy stopped and turned to face Sirius. She took out her wand, and muttering "_Lumos_", she used the lit tip to examine his eyes. "Sirius! You didn't!"

"Oh, we're fine!" Sirius exclaimed. "Stop pissing your knickers about it!"

"Does Remus even know what that was?" she questioned scathingly, turning her wand on the brown-haired young man who was trying his best not to laugh.

"Er… not exactly…"

"_Sirius!_"

Ivy began checking Remus closely, as if she were frightened that he was going to have an allergic reaction or possibly explode.

"Oh, Ivy, you needn't worry yourself, I'm fine," Remus assured her. Sirius thought that maybe the effects were wearing off his friend, but then Remus kissed Ivy on the forehead. "But it is very sweet of you to worry."

Ivy smiled at Remus good-naturedly, although her eyes were glaring daggers at Sirius. "Thank you, Remus. But I think it's time that we all got back to the castle." She pulled James' Invisibility Cloak out from her bag.

"Where'd you get that?" Sirius asked hazily.

"James let me borrow it to get you two back."

"Oh."

Throwing the cloak over the three of them and kicking Sirius when he stepped on her foot accidentally, Ivy led them up to the doors of the castle.

* * *

**NOW**

"Ouch! Sirius, you stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry!"

Harry let out a deep breath through his nose and stepped tentatively on his just-injured foot. "I can't believe I let you two talk me into this."

"It was Sirius' idea!"

"Oh bollocks, Remus, you practically jumped at the idea when I suggested it!"

"And in case you didn't remember, Sirius, just because no one can see us at the moment, does not mean that no one will _hear us!_"

"Both of you, be quiet!" Harry hissed. The two men went silent instantly. "Better…. Was this how you were with my dad when you went out under this thing?"

"Actually," Remus supplied, "I was usually the one trying to quiet Sirius and your father."

"And there were usually four of us," Sirius added. "Well, up until fifth year when Remus had his growth spurt and it became practically impossible to fit four of us under the cloak."

"I had trouble fitting just three under it in my third year!" said Harry, exasperated. "How did you fit four for so long?"

"By moving very slowly," said Remus.

"That and we taught ourselves how to cast Disillusionment Charms in our fifth year," Sirius said with a sly half-smile.

"So why aren't we using those now?"

"One of the uncanny abilities Ivy brought back from her travels in the east," Remus explained. "She has a knack for being able to spot people using Disillusionment Charms. It's like she has another sense that picks them up."

"The two of you," Sirius moaned. "Couldn't use them on you either because you could always hear us a mile away."

Remus flashed his Marauder grin.

"Yes, smile all you want, you tricky devil, but now you need to be more worried about how we're going to spy on that wife of yours."

"We're not spying!" Remus insisted. "We're just keeping an eye out for her."

"Otherwise known as spying."

"It is rather like spying, Remus…" Harry conceded carefully.

"I just want to make sure that Mr. Wilcott doesn't try anything. I have a right to protect my spouse, and I think he could be dangerous."

"Yeah right, dangerous how? With his 'Flirtation Method of Death'?"

"Bugger off, Sirius."

The three made their way slowly outside where they knew Ivy would be walking around with Clayton. She was reinforcing the protective charms on the grounds to make sure that no intruders could get into the castle, and had asked the Texan to join her so he could observe proper methods of shielding and defending a school.

Ivy was near the front gate, wand held aloft, muttering incantations. The spells guarding Hogwarts were very complicated, and required time and concentration. However, as the three men approached, Ivy lowered her wand and began glancing around.

"Somethin' wrong?" Clayton asked.

Ivy's eyes searched the area meticulously, but she could not see anything. Still, the sounds of the wind and trees seemed incorrect.

"No…" she said quietly. "I just feel strange."

"Strange how?"

Ivy shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. "I feel like we're being watched," she confessed.

Clayton took a step closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and drawing her to him. "Well, why should that bother ya? We're not doing anythin' we shouldn't be doin', right? So it's not like you got somethin' ta hide from anyone. We're just standing out here makin' sure that the school is safe. We're not locked in an intimate embrace or anything like that – "

Ivy allowed a small smile and laughed lightly. "That's a silly thing to say," she said, stepping out of his grasp and back toward the gate, wand at the ready once more.

Clayton shook his head, as if he were dazed, and stepped up right behind her. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, that was a strange thing to say, it's just… well, you remind me of an old love of mine. You look a lot like her, and you sound like her too."

"What happened to her?" Ivy asked absently, her mind already at work on beginning the incantation again.

"She died," Clayton whispered.

Ivy halted and turned back around to face him. "My God, I'm so sorry. How did it happen?"

"She was mauled to death by a werewolf."

Ivy gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.

Sirius muttered "_Muffliato_" in Ivy's direction to make sure that she wouldn't hear them.

"I can't believe Ivy's falling for this! That's one of the oldest tricks in the book, the good old 'I lost the love of my life, please comfort me' ploy."

"And it's just the thing that Ivy would fall for," Remus said, shaking his head sadly. "After all, we were lucky that we found each other again. We could have had the same story." He tried to listen again to what Clayton was saying. "Why would he say that a werewolf killed her, though?"

"A good way to make sure that she writes off any nasty thing that he might say to you in a heated moment," Harry suggested.

Remus nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense. She'll be less likely to think about the rude things he says to me now."

"He's tricky, all right," Sirius muttered. "The real question is, what are you planning on doing about it?"

"I can't do anything about it, Sirius."

"Why the bloody hell not!"

Remus sighed. "She really does need the help – "

" – So tell her to find someone else to help."

"No, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "If I did that, I would have to explain why I would want her to do that, and I can't tell her what I think of Clayton."

"Why not?" Sirius asked exasperatedly. "She's your wife, you're supposed to share everything with her!"

"Because it would make me sound like a jealous cad, that's why not!" Remus barked.

"You _are_ a jealous cad! That's why we're out here on this beautiful, sunny day underneath an Invisibility Cloak with an impressionable youth!"

"Er, could we please leave my impressionability out of this?" Harry interjected.

"Sirius, you don't know the first thing about marriage, so I don't think you're the one to lecture me on how to handle my own wife!" said Remus, his voice rising with each word.

"You haven't been married very long yourself, mind you," Sirius sneered back. "And if you had listened to me a long time ago, you might have been married much longer, so maybe you should try listening to me for a change and see how it works out!"

Remus' eyes widened angrily, and he was about to come out with something quite rude to tell his friend, but Harry stepped in before him.

"Both of you stop it right now!" he shouted. "This is not helping anything, least of all the rather large headache I've developed while listening to you two. Now, I think that we should go back to the castle, since it looks like Ivy is fine and doesn't require any assistance, invisible or not."

Remus and Sirius both blanched for a few moments, wanting to argue, but too caught up in how much sense Harry had made to do anything about it. They turned tail, and slowly made their way back up to the castle.

Once inside and in an empty hallway, they pulled off the cloak and looked at each other.

"Remus," Sirius began, "you really need to watch it, mate."

Remus passed a hand over his face, letting his fingers rest against his lips for a moment. "I know," he said quietly.

"Because that side of yours that you don't want anyone to see is coming out quite often now."

"I _know_."

There was a long silence.

Harry's head suddenly perked up. "Did you hear something?"

Sirius and Remus both shook their heads. There was another long pause.

"Harry, you want to go find Ginny, or something?" Sirius suggested.

Harry took the hint and slipped away.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius whispered, trying to find his friend's eyes, which were currently searching the floor with intense fervor. "Tell me what's going on. I can't solve anything, but you shouldn't keep it to yourself."

Remus bit his lip for a moment before staring up at the ceiling, still not comfortable looking his friend in the face. "Sirius, she belongs to all of me. As horribly chauvinist as that sounds, it is still very true. I belong to her and she belongs to me. And when he's too close, it's all of me that feels angry. It's all of me that is sickened…"

His voice dropped to the softest whisper as his eyes slowly drifted to the hem of his friend's robe. "…It's all of me that wants to rip him to shreds for even the smallest touch."

Sirius nodded. "It's okay to feel that way, you know."

"No, it isn't," Remus said urgently. "It isn't because of what I could do."

Sirius sighed. "Remus, we both know that you wouldn't – "

"I _wouldn't?_" Remus interrupted. "Are you so sure? You don't really understand, do you, Sirius? The stakes are so much higher now. I have more to lose. So much higher…"

"Remus," Sirius started reasonably, "you can't let him have that kind of control over you. He's not worth that, not in a million years."

Remus finally looked up at him gravely. "We'll see, won't we?"

* * *

The shack was beyond repair. He was surprised that no one had decided to tear it down, as it was clearly no longer serving a purpose. The back half was on the ground and the front half looked prepared to fall any minute. Still, it would provide shelter against wind, and some rain and snow, provided it wasn't too severe. Weeds and overgrowth were standing tall around it, so no one could see in through the windows, even if they had not been boarded up. 

Sirius eyed the place suspiciously before turning to his partner. "How do we know that she's here again?"

Guinevere walked slowly and carefully toward the shack's door, glancing around her every few feet. Her violet gaze pierced through the out-of-control shrubbery. "We have people who try to keep an eye on this one. She's a special case."

"I'm still not quite sure I understand what you mean by that."

She stepped on a twig, the cracking noise it made causing her to jump and snap her head back over her shoulder. When she realized what happened she shook her head and looked back to Sirius. "Didn't you read the report?"

"Of course, I did," Sirius replied, irritated. "But you've had first-hand experience with her, and I want to know what you know."

Guinevere sighed. "She doesn't trust strangers. That's the first thing that you need to know."

"Oh. Wonderful."

"She is very skittish and has a terrible temper. Sometimes she bites when she's not transformed. You see, her parents didn't believe in the whole magic thing, and when she had her first transformation they threw her out onto the street. It scared them too much."

Sirius paused behind Guinevere. "That's horrible, how could they do that to their own child?"

Guinevere shrugged. "Some people just don't make the best parents. And since she's spent her time being raised by criminals mostly, and some of the most dangerous werewolves in the United Kingdom, we have to watch our step with her."

She stopped outside the door, dropping her voice to a tiny whisper. "The reason that we're going in this time is because of you. We've been trying to find someone to connect with her so that she'll listen to us better, but she either fears or hates everyone from our office. We're worried that if we don't get through to her, one of these days she'll do something stupid or dangerous. Then she'll be in the hands of the Werewolf Registry and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We don't want that to happen."

Sirius nodded resolutely. "Got it."

Guinevere shot him a saddened look. "Keep in mind that she's really only a girl. Seventeen, and never lived in the real world as we know it. She may try to act older, but she's still a child."

Guinevere opened the door with great effort, as the hinges were rusted and the frame had tilted enough to make it hard to move. She lit her wand, but kept the light low. Sirius followed her example. After taking a few steps in, she stopped.

"Sorsha? Sorsha, are you in here? We need to talk with you. It's Guinevere, Sorsha. Please answer if you can hear me."

They waited for a long time. No sound reached their ears.

Then finally, a small, hoarse voice came out of the darkness.

"I'm not a child."

"What?" Guinevere responded, now trying to find out where the voice was calling from.

"I heard what you said outside. I'm not a child."

There was something in that small voice that made Sirius' stomach turn. It was so calm and young. Yet it gave him the feeling of a predator pretending to be tame and sweet while stalking it's prey. He raised his wand, trying to find something in the darkness. But he saw nothing, and he could not pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be on the air itself.

"You brought someone new with you."

"Yes," said Guinevere, still looking around carefully, now searching the ceiling. "He's my new partner, he has a lot of experience with your kind."

"Experience?" came the curious and smooth inquiry. "What does that mean?"

"One of my best friends is a werewolf," Sirius called out, trying to break the ice. "Perhaps you've heard of him, his name's Remus Lupin."

A depraved cackle sounded through the house, beautiful but full of sin. "Lupin? That docile little cub? He's not a real werewolf."

"Why's that?" Sirius asked, thinking that it was probably good just to keep her talking.

"He doesn't embrace the madness. He's afraid of what lies within." The sultry laugh echoed again. "I met him once when he was having trouble staying on his feet. He was so frightened of himself. He wouldn't even howl at the moon!"

Sirius didn't want to hear about how Remus had lived in the years that he had been in prison. It was the one part of his friend's life that he feared learning about because he knew that he would blame himself.

"But you…"

Sirius' back stiffened and he spun around. How she had managed to sneak up on him like that, he would never know. What he did know was that there was a skinny girl standing in front of him, whose ribs showed through the thin shift she was wearing. Her brown hair was tangled and matted, her face covered in dirt. Her eyes were round and sunken in, and the nails on her hands were long and looked quite sharp. The shoes that she wore were clearly not hers, as they were about three sizes too big and made for a man. However, she still retained an eerie beauty about her, partly due to her youth, and party because of her eyes. They were brown and wide, with flecks of gold throughout. Full of anger and passion.

Sirius backed away one step.

"…you are different from all the other people who have come to talk to me."

Sirius found that he was leaning back away from her out of instinct. He had the distinct impression that she was smelling him. "How's that?" he asked, angry at the unbidden tremor that had found its way to his voice.

She leaned forward and stared into his eyes carefully. Sirius could not have moved, even if she had placed a wand up against his heart.

Her eyes opened wide and she backed away. "You…"

Somewhere inside of him a voice came up, demanding that he stop acting as though he were frightened of this girl. He took a step toward her. "I…?"

She stumbled backward even further. Something in her head had sounded off as she took in his scent and gazed into his dark eyes. Something had shouted _caution_ and _threat_. She did not want him there anymore. She often found it fun to play with the men who came to see her, especially since most seemed to find her strangely attractive. They served their purpose. But this one needed to leave. Right now.

"You stay away!" she shouted, holding out her hands and clawing the air in warning. "You can't be here, you're a monster! A monster with _secrets!_ You _have secrets! Get OUT!_"

Guinevere stared at Sirius in confusion. She wondered why someone would say that about him, of all people. The man who kept everything on his sleeve.

And then something happened that she would have never expected. A strange look came over Sirius' face. An oddly perceptive look. Without taking his eyes from the girl, he spoke.

"Guinevere, I need to you leave."

"Leave?"

"Yes, I'll let you know when you can come back in, but right now you have to leave."

Guinevere did not know what was going on, but she was sure that she didn't like it. What was he going to do with Sorsha anyway?

"Why?"

Sirius still kept his eyes focused on the girl, who was now backing into a corner and sinking to floor.

"We have to reach an understanding."

"What _sort_ of understanding?"

"Guinevere… _leave_."

She could not argue with the tone in his voice and the way his jaw had set. She just knew that she couldn't. Not when he looked like that.

When Sirius heard Guinevere's footsteps creak at the doorframe, he approached Sorsha slowly.

"No! Stay away!"

"You can sense it, can't you?"

The girl looked up, confused and furious.

"You can probably smell it too." When Sorsha looked at him with more hostility and confusion, he tried to explain. "Tell me what I smell like."

"Leather," she answered impudently.

"And?"

Her eyes narrowed. She hated stupid games. "You smell like firewhiskey and other werewolves. And you smell like grass, and parchment and ink, and your own scent. And oil and smoke from a car or a motorbike."

He smirked at her. "You're leaving one out, aren't you?"

"No."

"Yes, you are. Tell the truth."

"You don't tell the truth, I don't have to tell you the truth," she mumbled quickly, like someone who was accustomed to talking to herself.

"If you tell me the truth, I'll tell you my secret," Sirius baited.

"Can't trust you…"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a man. Because you're not one of us. Because you belong to that stupid bureau that pretends to help us. Because you look like the kind of man that uses people. Because she doesn't trust you."

Sirius felt a quick sting at the fact that Sorsha could sense Guinevere's distrust of him, but he pressed on. "And?"

"Because you smell like a dog."

Sirius grinned. "Ah… a dog."

"Yes, now go away."

"But I promised I'd tell you my secret."

"I don't want to know your secret. Go away."

Sirius shook his head. "I can't take it back, I made you a promise. So now you're just going to have to watch."

She glanced up sharply at him. "Watch?"

"Um-hm."

And with a resounding "pop" there was a large black dog on the floor, wagging its tail eagerly.

Sorsha stared at the animal for a moment before trying to back even further into the wall.

"No! Go away! I don't care about your secrets! I don't want to know about your magic! Get out, get out, _get out!_"

Sirius popped back into existence and came over to crouch beside her. He smiled kindly. "Now, why are you so afraid of a dog?"

She shot forward, her face only a few inches from his. "I'm not afraid! Not afraid, but dogs are bad…"

Sirius cocked his head. "Bad how?"

"Police have dogs…" she mumbled quietly to herself.

"I see."

"No you don't see!" she shouted fiercely. "You don't see anything!" She paused for a moment, then looked up at him again. "And you still have secrets…"

"What secrets?" Sirius asked carefully.

"You have them. I can smell those too."

"What are you talking about?" he inquired anxiously.

The girl leaned forward, and Sirius was afraid that she was going to try and kiss him. Instead, she did something much worse.

In one swift motion she pushed his jacket off his shoulders and down to the floor. Grabbing his arm and yanking it toward her, she used her sharp fingernails to rip off the buttons on the cuff of his sleeve and push the fabric back. She cried out when she found what she was looking for, and she traced her fingernails over it harshly, bringing back memories that Sirius had thought were buried forever…

"Get off!" he shouted, drawing his arm back with such a force that her nails scratched into his flesh and drew blood. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I know what those marks mean," she said slowly and deliberately. "You were in that prison. They marked you…"

"Yes, yes they did," Sirius snapped hastily. He used his wand to repair the buttons on his cuff, and pulled his sleeve as far down as it would go. He then pulled his jacket off the floor, slipped it on and stood up. When he began crossing to the door, she stood and walked in front of him.

Why does that bother you?" she asked with a wicked smile. "I know men who've been far more disfigured. I've known people with marks all over their bodies."

"They probably wanted them there," Sirius hissed.

"You shouldn't be ashamed."

"I'm not."

"They hurt you," she said suddenly, a real look of sympathy crossing her features. The look faded, and was replaced by a seductive stare. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can make the pain go away…"

Sirius grabbed the girl by the shoulders and pushed her upright. "Sorsha, stop this. We're here to help you. Why don't you want to be helped?"

Sorsha's eyes narrowed confusedly. "People don't help," she whispered. "People take. People hurt."

"Not all people," Sirius whispered back, searching her eyes. "Some want to help. They want you to be safe."

Sorsha stepped back. "Why?"

Sirius smiled. "That's a stupid question."

The girl tilted her head questioningly. "What will you do?"

"We will be here for you, whenever you need us," Sirius told her. "Do you want that?"

She took a long moment. Then she nodded hesitantly.

"Will you be staying here for a while?"

The girl nodded again, glancing around at the walls as though she had never really seen the place before.

"Then we will be back to check on you."

Another nod.

Sirius moved to the door, which was still open, shedding the last day's light into the shack. "Guinevere?"

His partner came back in, a curious look on her face. Sirius ignored it for the time being.

"Sorsha has told me that she will be staying here for a while. She's says that it's all right if we check on her."

Guinevere's features took on a look of amazement. She turned to the girl, smiling. "Well, that's… wonderful news. We look forward to seeing you again, Sorsha."

"That would be good," the girl responded distractedly.

"Then we'll be back soon," Sirius said, coming to her side.

Sorsha looked up at him, but this time her gaze was clear. "Yes. I will see you soon."

Sirius grinned and winked at her. "Good."

As he and Guinevere left the shack, Sirius could feel eyes on him. Upon looking to his left, he was surprised to find that the eyes were his partner's.

"What?"

Guinevere shook her head. "How did you do it?"

Sirius smirked smugly. "Whatever do you mean?"

"We've sent twenty of our people to her in the last two years. None of them were successful. How did you do it?"

"I talked to her like a person instead of a case file. And she learned some of my secrets. That made her more comfortable."

Guinevere raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh, I see. So when do I get to learn some of your secrets?"

"Never."

"Why's that?"

"Can't trust you."

Guinevere's mouth dropped open. "You can trust that girl, but you can't trust me?"

When Sirius finally turned back to look at her, she could see his smile by starlight and it resembled that of a Cheshire cat. "No, can't trust you. You know too much about me."

"Why do I get the feeling that I've been wrong about that?" Guinevere said softly. She instantly hoped that he hadn't heard that. It wouldn't do to become friends with a man that she hated so extraordinarily.

But walking two paces ahead of her, Sirius Black allowed himself a small victory skip, and called the day very well-spent.

* * *

Sirius was not used to being out in the muggle world like this. Certainly he had hid among farmers and other rural people in the time he had tried to avoid recapture before his name was cleared, but he was not used to being in cities, or large stadiums like the one he was entering. And to top it off, he was there with the only person in the world who could make him feel more uncomfortable than he already was. 

They had actually been getting along rather well. Almost too well, if truth were told. He was waiting for the next explosion. They hadn't had a good screaming fight in nearly a week. And she was starting to seem like a rather nice person to him. That was disturbing on a whole other level.

"We have to go up another flight before we get to our seats," Guinevere called out over the mumble of the crowd, snapping Sirius out of his haze.

Sirius looked up above him to see how far the stairs went up. "The stadium isn't quite as high as a Quidditch one," he mused out loud.

"Well, your dealing with a game that's played on the ground," Guinevere stated reasonably. "The better seats are actually the lower ones in this case because you're closer to all the action."

Sirius smirked at how she seemed to calculate everything without any hint of emotion behind her words. "Ever the logical Ravenclaw."

She wagged a finger at him, a smile playing at the corners of the mouth. "Ah-ah, Black, we've been refraining from house insults very well lately. I haven't called you an ego-centric, fame-seeking Gryffindor in quite some time, so I think you should bite your tongue when referring to my house."

"It wasn't an insult," Sirius said honestly.

She blinked for a moment, having to look back on his exact words, as it was clear that she didn't believe him. A bashful look had the grace to flit across her features as she realized her misunderstanding. "Oh, I… well…. We better find our seats."

Sirius nodded, fighting back the urge to grin playfully. They didn't argue so much now, but what was replacing the fights was… intriguing. He wasn't sure what it was yet, but it gave him a real thrill in the pit of his stomach every time he got the upper hand.

They finally reached the top of the flight and Guinevere moved down an aisle and some stairs to get them to their seats. Sirius got in next to her and gazed out over the grassy field, his elbows on his knees.

"So break it down for me."

"Beg your pardon?"

That little thrill in his stomach showed up again. This time he did grin. "Tell me what we're going to be watching here."

Guinevere nodded in understanding and leaned forward like him. "Well, we're watching the Reds – Liverpool – and the Gunners – that's Arsenal – play against each other in this match."

"And they're trying to get one black and white ball into the giant net of the opposing team?" Sirius asked in a disbelieving sort of voice.

Guinevere rolled her eyes at the very-near jibe. "I know the nets are bigger than Quidditch rings, but they're kicking the ball from the ground. It's harder to aim with your feet."

"And there are ten players?"

"Eleven if you count the goalie."

Sirius snickered. "What a strange name for a Keeper."

Guinevere sighed exasperatedly. "Look, if you keep comparing it to Quidditch than there was really no point in you coming because you aren't going to enjoy the match."

He held up a hand defensively. "I'm just kidding. Really, I'll be good, I promise."

She snorted. "Good is not something that I think you're capable of being, Black."

He glanced at her sideways. "No, I suppose not."

Guinevere caught the look he had thrown, and rolled her eyes at him once more. Then she clasped her hands together and placed her chin on them, gazing intently at the field.

Sirius frowned momentarily. "Something I said?"

She shook her head. "Just waiting for the players to get out on the field."

"Who are we rooting for?"

"I'm a fan of the Gunners, personally. The Reds are a good team, but I like Arsenal better. And we're at their stadium, so they'll hopefully have the advantage today."

"Sounds good. What's the standard formation?"

"They call it a 4-3-3."

"Which means?"

Guinevere was clearly enjoying knowing more about a sporting event than Sirius did. She pointed to the field accordingly and explained. "Four defenders, three midfielders, and three forwards. The forwards usually are two wingers, who assist the one striker. The striker is the player who scores most of the goals. We'll probably be seeing Thierry Henry today. He's the striker for the Gunners."

The players all came out onto the field and the crowd went wild. Sirius heard cheers and chants, and various crazy fans that were holding banners and wearing funny hats. It wasn't so different from a Quidditch game after all.

He ended up being surprised at the amount of fervor the players showed. At one point, one of the players dove to the ground and let the ball bounce off his head to make sure that his team would still have possession of it.

"What do they call that move?" he asked, impressed.

"A diving header," Guinevere called back. Soon she was yelling at the field referee. "Come on! Give him a yellow card for that! He's not allowed to charge someone from behind! Call it!"

Sirius smiled at her exasperation. It was interesting to see her get passionate about something. She was just as bad as the fans around her.

"Chip shot! Come on, Henry, you can do it! Right over his head!"

"Whatever she said!" Sirius shouted, clapping his hands toward the field.

All in all, they were having a great time. Guinevere explained things whenever Sirius got lost, and let him know when he should be pissed off or elated. He eventually got the hang of it, and started shouting with her.

"Fabulous cut off! Keep him on the sidelines, that's it!"

"Great defense, Lauren! Now, get it out to Bergkamp so we can score before the period is up!"

Unfortunately, Arsenal lost the game. That still didn't stop Guinevere and Sirius from leaving the field in stitches.

"Did you see the guy who was so smashed that he fell into the row below him and squashed some ten year old kid?"

Guinevere nodded, clapping a hand over her mouth. "I don't think you could've missed it. That child will be scarred for life; the man was four times his size and covered in body paint."

"_That_ I don't understand," Sirius managed to get out through his guffaws. "I mean, we always had people who painted their faces and the like during Quidditch matches, but the entire upper half of your body? That's something we could all stand to not see."

Guinevere was laughing so hard and she tripped on some uneven sidewalk and grabbed hold of Sirius' shoulder to stop herself from falling. Sirius' arms flew to her waist to keep her steady.

"Whoa!" he laughed, releasing her against his instincts. "You all right there?"

"Yes," Guinevere giggled. "I just missed a step. Sorry, I nearly pulled you with me."

"Nah, it'd take a lot more than a little tug from someone as slight as you to throw me off-balance."

Guinevere stopped short, a sharp glint in her eye. She stuck her foot out in front of Sirius' and swept back, knocking Sirius way off-kilter. He yelped and braced himself against the brick wall next to him to keep from tipping over.

She chortled hysterically at his near-spill. "That sounded suspiciously like a challenge," she explained. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Sirius pushed back from the wall, looking rather angrily at her. Guinevere stopped giggling immediately, afraid that she had gone too far.

Then he cracked a lop-sided grin that made Guinevere's head go a little fuzzy. "Minx."

She flashed a coy smile. "Only when provoked."

Sirius stepped closer, smile still in perfect place. "That sounded like a challenge…"

Guinevere wasn't a fool. She could read body language just fine, and she wasn't sure that she was okay with where this seemed to be going. She was already having a hard enough time processing the fact that she had just flirted with Sirius Black without even thinking about it. She wasn't the sort of person who flirted all the time, or even flirted on occasion for fun. She never did anything without a purpose, but she just had with him.

She stepped back. Sirius had the sense to pause.

Guinevere was glad that he hadn't touched her. If he had, she wasn't sure that she would have been able to control herself. Not because she was desperate or really needed attention, but Sirius Black was just one of those men. She knew that one touch with the right intentions behind it, and she would have a hard time saying no. He had that sort of effect, that sort of charisma. And she really didn't even know if they were friends yet. It wouldn't do good to lose her head already over some silly high after a football game.

"No challenge," she said carefully. Sirius took the hint and backed off gracefully, managing not to look slighted in the process. She was jealous of him for that. "Just the suggestion that maybe you _don't_ know the real me."

He nodded slowly, the corners of his lips tilting up gently. How he was able to keep his composure at times like this was beyond her. She was so easily embarrassed and angered and hurt that his self-possession really did infuriate her.

He looked down the avenue, watching the fans disperse into various pubs and nightclubs. Music was pouring in from all sides of the street, along with the drunken rumblings of the bar patrons. Sirius wasn't about to give up in the midst of such perfect surroundings. He had to keep her out a while longer.

"Want to get a drink?"

Guinevere looked around suspiciously. "Er, I don't know if – "

"Come on, one drink won't kill you," he argued easily.

"I'm not good at holding my liquor," she confessed. "A glass or two of wine is usually okay, but one shot of firewhiskey makes me easy to take advantage of."

Sirius smirked. "Good to know." Guinevere looked like she had a smart comeback for that one, but he was too fast for her. "But I don't think these are the sort of places that serve firewhiskey anyway. Let's just do it, don't think about it. I'll get a beer and you can get a spritzer or something."

Guinevere growled in frustration. "God, you are relentless and unprincipled!"

"Thank you."

"How do you manage to take everything so lightly?"

"It's a good survival skill. You don't get hurt as easily."

Guinevere blinked. But this time, Sirius had no smartass way to change the subject. He didn't even look happy with himself for revealing the information. He was staring carefully at the sidewalk, as if the cracks in it were the most interesting thing in the world.

Guinevere tried cautiously to think of something to say. Just as she took a breath to say who-knows-what, Sirius cut her off again.

"Let's just pretend that last bit never happened, okay?"

She nodded uncomfortably. "Right. You were never a real person tonight."

"Good. I can keep my reputation as a heartless, womanizing bastard."

She smiled at his obvious attempt to make the conversation lighthearted again. "Undoubtedly."

He looked up at her and motioned down the street with his head. "Come on. The pub up there looks like a good place. One drink."

She hesitated a moment more before beginning to follow him down the street. He seemed thoroughly pleased with his convincing skills, and tried to make her feel comfortable by not gloating about it. Once they got to the pub door, however, Guinevere paused. The sound was very loud. And there were so many people. Just the sight of the crowded room made her want to gag.

"I don't think I can do this."

Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Yes, you can."

"I get claustrophobic in the supermarket sometimes. Have I ever told you that?"

Sirius was truly astounded at that confession. "Your brother's right, you know. You really should get out more, it would be good for you."

It was the wrong thing to say.

Guinevere's eyes widened, and she stepped back in disgust. "My brother…" she whispered. "My brother…. You've been talking to that little prat, haven't you? He asked you to do this, he's trying to get you to loosen me up. That sneaky little wanker, I'll kill him."

Sirius shook his head. "No, that's not what this is about."

"And _you_," she hissed, backing away from him entirely and leading him down the block while she walked backwards, "you have been playing me like a bass drum in a marching band, you cowardly, evil – "

"All right, despite the fact that I have no idea what a marching band is, I want to get this completely clear: Bruce did not tell me to do this." _Well, he did,_ Sirius admitted._ But that's not the reason I'm here_.

"I don't believe that for a second," Guinevere cackled cynically.

"Oh, please, I'm tired of doing this!" Sirius said exasperatedly. He reached out to grab hold of her. Maybe he could shake the paranoia out of her.

But he never got the chance. She ran.

"Guinevere!" he called chasing after her.

He had run three blocks before following her into an empty alley. By the time he got there, she had Apparated away. He had a funny feeling that he'd heard something akin to a sob before he had reached the alley, but he wasn't sure.

_Bloody brilliant, Black_, he swore at himself. _One step forward and two steps back, as usual._

* * *

There we are! Hope you liked drugged brownies and Inivisibility Cloaks, and Sorsha, and Football games! Lots more to come! Next chapter is a bit (okay, really) depressing, but we're getting into a lot of the dramatic tension soon, so prepare yourselves. Please review, I love hearing from every one of you (as I'm sure you realize because I take such pains to answer you back – I love talking to you guys ;) )! Oh, and before I forget, credit goes to David Bowie for the song _Rebel Rebel,_ used in the last chapter, and The Beatles for the song _Fixing A Hole_, used in this chapter. 


	7. Pranks, Swords, and Blood

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, do you really care?

**Author's Note:** Holy freaking God! I'm sorry this took a while. You know how end of semesters work, and how holiday's work, and how people have to take time getting used to school when they come back – well, that's what happened with me and my betas. I apologize very much, as I had wanted to post two chapters in December (one as a Christmas present). I'm really sorry about that. But I'm back, and the chapters will be flowing once again. Forgive me. I will try to get the next chapter up in a couple of weeks, since this one came up so late.

**ALSO**, I've noticed that there is now a nice feature where I can respond to your reviews as I get them, so now I will try doing that instead of taking up copious amounts of space at the start of the chapter. I will try to answer all of your reviews for last chapter like that relatively soon, but if I miss a few of you, I am very sorry (I don't know when they did the system switch over for it, so it might not be possible for me to respond to all of them).

**_WARNING!_**** This** **chapter contains explicit sexual material.** I didn't want to change the rating as most of the story is still PG-13, but there will be certain chapters with warnings like this one, when there is sexual content (yes, I finally wrote some of that stuff, because it's kind of important in this story, and I'm no longer uncomfortable writing it). It is important for you to note that the sexual content in this chapter _is not happy._ It is **not** rape, I really am not a fan of rapefics, but it is not happy, healthy sex. I promise that this won't always be the case, it was just essential for this chapter. If anyone is pissed that I haven't changed the rating on this fic, **please just let me know**, and I will, otherwise I will continue to give warnings per chapter. Also don't be distressed at what happens – I promise it will get better (you know I'm not one for unhappy endings wink).

So here's the chapter! I warn you, it is not the happiest…

_**Chapter Seven – Pranks, Swords, and Blood**_

**THEN – **Marauder Seventh Year

"You!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. Seven years. He had dealt with that voice for seven years. The constant nagging. The rude insults. Those violet eyes flashing in regular annoyance. At least he only had a few months left to deal with it.

He turned to face her on the lawn. He had been chatting with James by the large oak tree. Ivy, Lily, and Remus were nearby studying, and Peter was doodling on a parchment roll. A large crowd was sitting outside under various forms of shade, all letting the day waste away as the warm breeze swept across the grounds. But now a voice was shattering the peace.

It was nothing new. Everyone was used to it by then.

"What now?"

"My essay has been ruined! You have some nerve – trying a trick like that in the library!"

Now, Sirius remembered. He had jinxed the essay of one of his least favorite Slytherins, so that the ink would disappear. However, it hadn't seemed to work at the time. He thought back and realized that Guinevere had been sitting nearby, and her bookbag had been on the table next to the boy's essay. Perhaps he had hit the bag and gotten her essay on accident.

"My dear Guinevere," Sirius said with a smirk, not entirely sorry, "if that is the case, I am most deeply apologetic. It was a mistake, and I am shocked to learn that you were on the receiving end of such unjust behavior."

"You did it on purpose, Black!" she roared. "And when I tried to reverse the spell, my essay burnt to pieces. I have to do it over!"

Sirius sighed. Well, that made his day for sure. He looked at her seriously. "If it's really that much of a problem, I'll redo the essay for you. Just stop making such a fuss."

"Do it _for_ me?" she hissed dangerously.

"Yes. For you. As in, I do the essay and you hand it in with your name on it." Sirius spoke loud and deliberately as if Guinevere had a learning problem.

"You lying, cheating, low-life, immoral – "

"Oh, for God's sake," Sirius breathed. "Why are you so impossible? Really, you're wound so tight, you'll probably shag with your legs closed."

At this point, everyone was looking up, wondering what the next move was. A few had 'ooooo-ed' at Sirius' last comment, but they weren't heard because at that moment, Guinevere raised her wand and shouted furiously.

Sirius' hair turned bright pink.

He looked up through his fringe and then back down, quite unimpressed. "Is that the best you can do?" he goaded. A quick tap with his own wand and his hair was back to normal. "Come on, try again."

Guinevere looked positively murderous. Pulling her arm back like she was about to swing a baseball bat, she shouted another curse. Sirius knocked it aside with his wand before it even reached him.

"Oh, you can do better! Aren't you supposed to be one of the prize Ravenclaw students?"

She shot another curse, which Sirius deflected back at her. It hit her full in the face and knocked her backwards, clearly only meant to throw someone to the ground. She got up, pink in the face, brushing grass off her robes while everyone laughed.

Sirius smiled. "Tata, dear Guinevere. Do come back when you're in a better mood."

She turned sharply on her heel and began stalking away. When she got two steps, though, Sirius flicked his wand and muttered something under his breath.

Guinevere's clothes tore down her back. A hand quickly went there to pinch the clothes together, and she turned on him. But no words would come out. Too many people were laughing.

"Now you can really see the stick up her arse!" Sirius said gleefully, waving goodbye to her.

Guinevere turned around with tears in her eyes, and ran back to the castle, hands keeping her clothes together.

Sirius was still in stitches, although half of the people present were in shock. Suddenly, he felt a hand strike him across the face. He turned to see Lily, seething with anger beyond measure.

"Of all the low, cowardly, shameful things you could have done!" she shouted. But she couldn't continue. Like Guinevere, she had no words. She slapped Sirius again before taking off in the girl's direction. James, after tossing Sirius an unhappy glance, followed Lily.

"What?" Sirius called after him. "No one saw anything, her reflexes were fine! Please, this is the sort of thing that happens to everyone in school at some point. She's been asking for it!"

He went over to where Remus was sitting. "Come on, Moony, back me up here."

Remus looked up from his book. He didn't look angry. He didn't look appalled or shocked. Not even disgusted.

He just looked disappointed. That was enough.

Sirius was ashamed. But he still looked to Ivy, to see if someone would be on his side.

Ivy glared venomously at him before looking back to her book. "Go away, Sirius. I think it's going to be a while before anyone talks to you again."

Sirius backed up, confused and angry that everyone had gone cold on him so quickly. _It's not like 'dear Guinevere' is going to be permanently scarred by it…_

He stalked off into the evening air.

* * *

"I just can't believe that he did that," Lily exclaimed angrily. "What was he thinking?" 

James sighed. "Sirius doesn't usually think before he does something like that. He just acts on his gut."

"And his gut told him to split her clothes from collar to backside?" Lily roared.

They were all sitting in the common room, trying to figure out what had happened that had made Sirius snap like that. Sirius had gone to bed early that night, as no one was talking to him, and that gave everyone the perfect opportunity to discuss his failings.

"He's been going through a strange time," James said in an attempt to defend him. "Last year he ran away from home, and this year things have been getting stranger. People have been dying. He's worried about his brother."

Remus cleared his throat. "As much as I sympathize with what he's going through, that doesn't excuse behavior like that. She didn't deserve that, it was completely unwarranted harassment."

"She was trying to curse him into next Easter!" James supplied.

"Oh, she would have never come close, and you know it," Ivy snapped. "There are maybe two people in this school who could really curse you and Sirius, and one of them is sitting right next to you, James!"

James scooted away from Lily slightly, but no one was amused. He sighed. "I'm not saying that he has an excuse," he conceded. "All I'm saying is that he did it for a reason. He didn't just decide to be unusually cruel to her because he thought everyone would get a kick out of it."

"Funny, that's what it seemed like he was doing," said Lily cynically.

James rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. He knew that he was the only person in the room who would even try to see where Sirius was coming from. He also knew that at the moment he was the only one who cared. Which didn't surprise him, as he had been disturbed at Sirius' behavior too. But he didn't like hearing everyone bashing his best friend. Sirius was a better person than that, and he had more problems than anyone knew about. Mainly because Sirius never cared to admit them.

"Look," he tried again, "we all know that something has been going on between the two of them since first year. They rub each other the wrong way, and they go out of their ways to try and piss each other off. We always thought that maybe they felt something besides outright loathing – "

"I'd rule that one out," Ivy snorted.

"Are you sure?" James questioned. "Because I always get the feeling that there is tension there that goes way beyond classroom hatred. I mean, I have my bouts with Snape, but there's something different going on with them."

"Such as?" Lily asked disbelievingly.

James shrugged. "I always got the feeling that they maybe fancied each other."

"You did?" said Lily. She was clearly surprised that James had thought what she once believed, and had never said anything about it. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Sirius always likes a challenge. And she hates him so extraordinarily…"

"Meaning…" Remus pressed.

"Meaning that maybe she acts like she hates him because she's angry that she's attracted to someone who makes her so angry. She wouldn't be the first girl around here to like Sirius without good reason."

"Oh, you mean like every girl in the school?" Remus stated with mock reason.

"Precisely," said James with a nod.

"Well, whatever the case, he blew it," Ivy interjected. "She's not going to forgive him for that. And if that's Sirius' way of showing affection, he's got some issues."

"Of course he does. Did you meet his mother?" James said in an undertone. Everyone looked at him curiously. "Look, I shouldn't be saying anything because he never talks about them for his own reasons, but his family would make it hard for anyone to be emotionally healthy. Sirius has always had problems expressing himself the way he wants. That's why he tries to live so large. He tries to feel everything because he was taught to feel nothing. And he does what he wants because he was told that everything he wanted was wrong."

No one could really think of anything to say to that. James was the only person who had any authority when it came to knowing Sirius on real terms. And this was the most that James had ever said regarding the Black family. No one could argue the point, and no one could be angry with Sirius for that.

"I've heard my father talk about them," Ivy whispered. "They really are terrible people. Sometimes I forget that he grew up with them."

Everyone nodded. James was grateful to see that he was finally gaining ground.

"Nothing excuses what he did today," he said slowly. "But every time he gets far out of line, I try to remind myself of how lucky I am that he is who he is. Every moment that he shows that he worries for us or cares for us is a moment that he goes against everything he was taught by his family. Every time he defends Lily when someone calls her a mudblood, he is going against centuries of family conditioning. Every time he stays with Remus during the full moon, he is showing courage where everyone else in his family cowers away. The fact that he is who he is, that's what makes the difference. And he screws up a lot, but at least he feels remorse for his mistakes. At least he cares enough to admit that he was wrong."

"I can hear you talking about me, you prat."

James' shoulders froze. Sirius was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at them all. Everyone stared at the ground guiltily. He wasn't supposed to know, but now they had been caught.

Sirius came down the stairs slowly, in his pajamas, looking sleepy but restless. He stood in front of them, running a hand through his hair one times too many and scratching his back longer than necessary.

"Look, I was stupid. I didn't really mean to…. It just happened, and then it was too late…. It's not like I could have apologized to her. She doesn't believe a word I say no matter what. She just hates me like that. And I'm a right bastard, we all know that…"

He sat down next to Ivy on the couch, hoping that she would look at him so he would know what she was feeling. He knew that James and Remus would forgive him, but he couldn't stand the thought of his Little Sister hating him.

"Ives, I just am incapable of being a good person. You know that, right? You always said I was a bloody idiot, and now I've just gone and proved it."

"You weren't supposed to," she whispered.

"What do you want me to do? Name it, and I'll do it."

Ivy exhaled. "Just promise that you won't do anything like that again. No matter what she says or does to you. You're a better person than that, even when you say you're a jerk. Just leave her alone."

"All right."

Ivy looked up at him finally. She allowed a small smile to reach her face. Sirius smiled back. And then she launched herself forward and hugged him. Sirius wrapped his arms around her tight and sighed in relief. Remus looked on them both fondly, and James just shook his head in amusement. Lily was still not impressed.

Once Ivy had let go of him, Sirius looked to Lily. "Come on, Lily, you can't hate me forever. I'm going to be the best man at your wedding."

Lily kicked him under the coffee table and laughed while he cursed at his newly bruised shin.

"We'll see about that, Black."

**NOW**

Sirius was in a rush to get to Remus' office. He had just found out when Charlie's first visit to the Werewolf Registry would be, and he wanted to be certain that Remus could go with the boy. However, as he hurried through the castle, he came upon a sight that he did not expect.

Ivy walking toward the courtyard, carrying a sword.

"What are you doing?" he shouted in her direction.

She spotted him and smiled. "I could ask you the same question, but I'm late. Want to join me?"

"No, I have to talk to Remus first. Maybe later."

"All right, you'll be missing quite the show."

Sirius looked at the sword in her hand one last time. "I have no doubt of that."

And so he continued until he reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's office. He knocked on the door, heard a familiar, mellow voice say, "Come in," and entered to find Remus at his desk, grading papers.

"Essays already?" said Sirius, shutting the door behind him. "Doesn't it seem a bit early for that?"

Remus looked up and shook his head, smiling. "Hardly. We're already a month into school and I have to make sure that my Seventh Years are up to par, so that they're ready for a N.E.W.T. level course."

Sirius sat down in one of the chairs opposite Remus' desk. "How're they looking so far?"

Remus lifted one of the parchment rolls off his desk and stared at it thoughtfully. "They are all quite decent, actually. This generation has reason to know a great deal about defending themselves, of course. They're not quite as capable as Harry's year, but they have a better understanding than I wish they had."

Sirius sighed. "Makes me wish I was coming here under better circumstances."

Remus frowned and set the paper down. "What?"

"Well, remember that kid I told you about? Charlie, the muggle boy who was bitten recently? Well, he got his first call to go to the Werewolf Registry. I just wanted to know if you could come. I'm going too, and Guinevere will also probably be there since we try to accompany our people there whenever possible, but I know Charlie would feel better with you there. Frankly, so would I."

Remus stared at the window to his right, his expression instantly sober. "When is he being called for?"

"This Sunday."

He nodded. "I'll be there. I'm probably due for a check-in myself."

Sirius winced inwardly. He always felt terrible when he knew that Remus had to go there. He was hoping that Remus could merely accompany Charlie, but he knew that it was probably best for Remus to deal with them too. The Werewolf Registry had a habit of getting suspicious about every person they kept track of.

Sirius decided to lighten the mood. "So what's Ivy doing? I saw her heading toward the south courtyard on my way in."

Remus groaned and leaned back in his chair, his fingers still fiddling aimlessly with the quill he had been using to grade papers. It was a habit they he had always had, for as long as Sirius could remember.

"I don't bloody know anymore. She and Mr. Wilcott are always off doing something. I've just sort of given up. I'm usually asleep by the time that she gets back in."

"What time do you usually go to bed?" asked Sirius, more than a little concerned.

Remus' eyes shifted away. "Well, I've been going to bed quite early lately."

"What time?" Sirius prodded more sternly.

Remus shrugged as if it didn't really matter. "Around nine 'o'clock."

Sirius could think of only one thing to say to that. "Old man."

Remus snorted. "What are you blathering on about?"

"_Old… man…_"

"Sirius, I really don't think that you – "

"Oh, Remus, don't go off on me about how I've never been married, so I couldn't possibly understand what's going on here!" Sirius grumbled. "If you want any sort of relationship with your wife, you can't go to bed at nine when she's the headmistress of Hogwarts!"

Remus' voice went dangerously quiet. "She is the one that chooses to go off all the time with that cowboy."

Sirius could not believe what he was hearing. Not from their ever-rational, always-giving-the-benefit-of-the-doubt Remus. "So you think she's cheating on you now, is that what it is?"

Remus shoved his chair away from his desk, stood up, and began pacing violently around the room. "I don't know what to think!"

Sirius found himself on his feet, shouting too. "Oh, please, Remus! You're being completely ridiculous! She worked so hard to get you, and now you're letting everything go because you just don't feel like telling her the truth!" When Remus tried to turn away from him, Sirius walked around him and got right in his face. "Where's the wolf, Remus? Where's the one who would fight for his mate, instead of cowering in the corner while the weaker man wins?"

That was the breaking point. With nothing short of a roar, Remus grabbed Sirius by the collar of his shirt and threw him up against the wall.

"Right here," he answered, his eyes flashing with what Sirius could swear was a hint of gold.

Sirius did not look away from that gaze. He didn't dare. "Better," was the light response he rejoined with.

But Remus did not let him go. He continued to stare him down, murder in his eyes. And Sirius knew that Remus was at war with himself. The wolf was having dominance issues, and Sirius was an easy target to take out that anger on. Because Remus was tired of being rational and stoic.

Remus wanted blood.

Sirius met the stare unflinchingly. His voice held no note of fear, and he spoke slowly. "Remus. Let me go."

And after a moment's hesitation, his friend let go of him.

However, Remus was not horrified the way he normally was when his other half came to the surface. He was merely angry and tired. He walked back to his chair and sat, not giving one hint of an apology. Instead, he picked up his quill and went back to his papers.

"Anyway, it's none of my affair," he said nonchalantly. "I think I heard some of the students saying that they were going to be giving dueling examples to anybody who cared to watch. I personally hope that Ivy jinxes him into the next world."

Sirius paused at the lack of sense between what he'd seen and what Remus had said. "Ah, mate, I think you're a little mixed up."

Remus kept his eyes fixed on the essay in front of him. "How's that?"

"Wrong kind of duel."

"Talk sense, Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the feigned denseness of his friend. "She was carrying a sword, Remus."

Remus' head shot up. "A _what?_"

"They're having a real duel. The old-fashioned way."

Remus bolted up from his desk, his eyes widening in horror. "No…"

He was out of his office quick as lightening, Sirius right at his heels.

When they reached the courtyard, they found a large crowd assembled, blocking the view of what was happening in the fight. The students looked thoroughly impressed, however. They applauded and 'oooo'ed and 'aahhhh'ed every few seconds, and whispered among each other.

Some of the students spotted Remus and cleared a path for he and Sirius. They reached the front and blanched at the sight before them.

Ivy was standing on the rim of the fountain, sword and dagger in her hands, raining blow after blow down on Clayton's head. He was parrying quite efficiently, but still looked very much the amateur next to Ivy's surprisingly coordinated attack. Eventually, she leapt down from the fountain's lip and dashed to the edge of the arena that they had created for themselves. Clayton ran after Ivy, moving to strike down on her head, but Ivy blocked the blow with her back turned to him, then spun around and used her dagger to give the top of his hand a little slice.

"Hey!" Clayton shouted in alarm. "I thought we said that this was gonna be a no-contact fight!"

Ivy shot him a devilish smile. "It is. But my fencing teacher always taught me that one or two little cuts never hurt. Builds character, you know. Good to remember that you're only flesh and blood."

"I can remember that just fine!" Clayton responded, trying to seem like he wasn't totally shocked and upset by the bleeding gash on the back of his perfect hand. "But it still hurts!"

Ivy tilted her head in mock concern. "Aw, come on, are you going to complain about a minor scratch you got during a little tussle from a girl?"

"Man or woman doin' the cutting, a flesh wound is still a flesh wound," Clayton shot back at her with a grin.

Ivy pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, mischievous smile still in place. "Oh, boohoo! Are you just going to stand there talking about it, or are you going to make me pay for your grievous injury?"

Clayton returned her trouble-maker stare and charged after her. This time, he had a trick of his own to play. When Ivy turned around to meet his attack, he ducked under her sword and came up behind her, using his hilt to pummel her in the back. Ivy went sprawling to the ground. Remus nearly leapt into the arena and gouged out Clayton's eyes, but Ivy immediately turned over on her back to look up at the Texan, a smile surprisingly still in place.

"Nice one," she tossed back at him.

Clayton shrugged smugly. "Builds character, ya know. You're only flesh'n'blood, after all."

Ivy leaned back on her shoulders and used them to spring to her feet, dagger still in hand. She then kicked her sword up onto her toe, and up again to her hand. "Yeah, right. What's next? You'll tell me that you're not really right-handed?"

He shook his head. "'Fraid I'm not that clever."

Ivy's lower lip stuck out in a pout. "Pity."

Then, without warning, she struck. This time, she locked Clayton's sword and dagger with her own. They were face to face, battling will against will, strength against strength. They were close enough that only a mere inch of space would have to be breached in order to leave them lip-locked.

"Time?" Remus called out carefully.

Ivy released the lock and turned to look at her husband. "Nice of you to join us, dear! What can I do you for?"

Remus tried his best not to look angry, jealous, worried, or any offshoot of those emotions. "Can I have a quick word with you? It's important."

Ivy looked around at the massive crowd that had assembled. She was reluctant to leave while the battle was just starting to get fun, but she caught the look in his eye, and knew that this was not something she should shrug off. "Sure. Five minutes everyone."

She followed Remus out of the arena, while everyone broke into hushed whispers about the fight, and Clayton practiced drills by the fountain.

Remus motioned for Ivy to follow him into an empty classroom, and closed the door behind them.

"What's up?" Ivy asked, her innocent eyes locking with his, making Remus feel instantly guilty.

"Has it not occurred to you that practicing such a dangerous sport with a man who clearly has less experience than you, in front of the students no less, might not be the wisest decision?"

That was clearly not the tactic he should have used. Ivy was not impressed with the scolding. "You sound like Minerva."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Remus entreated.

Ivy gave a silent heave of laughter, and looked at the floor. "Remus, I was taught how to fence when I was seventeen. I've been doing it for years, but I haven't had the opportunity to do it here. I used to be able to leave Hogwarts some evenings to go to classes and clubs for it last year, but now I can't. Clayton doesn't have quite as much experience as me, but his style is different, and it's interesting. And it allows me to keep doing it."

Remus sighed exasperatedly. "Ivy, if you want me to learn how to fence, I will. Just say so, and I'll do it. But he – "

Ivy's brow creased. She still smiled, although the smile got more pained as they continued talking. "Remus, that's not what this is about. It's about me doing something that I enjoy. I don't need you to learn how to do it. I just need to find a way to do it for myself. Now, if you'll excuse me – "

When she turned to leave, Remus grabbed her arm. She turned back to him, puzzled and a little shocked.

"Ivy, don't – "

"We're going to be dueling with katana blades next, Remus," she said more sternly. "If that is going to make you too nervous, you don't have to watch."

He had no choice but to let her go.

When he followed out of the room a minute after she had left, Sirius was waiting for him.

"That probably was not the best way to handle that, Moony."

Remus' face showed no emotion whatsoever. "I don't want to talk about it now, Sirius."

Sirius nodded and watched Remus walk back toward his office. When he turned around he thought he saw a head duck behind a column nearby, but when he checked there was no one there. _Strange,_ he thought, but he walked back to the arena and saw no one missing that he had noticed before. Thinking it must have been a trick of the light or some student caught in a tough spot, he ignored it and left.

* * *

Remus was sitting at breakfast, trying not to betray himself with every breath he took. Ivy was sitting to his left, and on the other side of her, Mr. Wilcott was talking up a storm about some tornado disaster that his school had faced in his first year as deputy headmaster. Remus' stomach was churning. Taking in food was not the best idea at that moment, so he sipped his coffee, and took the Daily Prophet from the owl that had landed in front of him 

When he read the headline, he dropped his stirring spoon.

Ivy heard the clatter and turned to him. "What is it?"

Remus held the paper in front of her so she could read the headline:

**ANTI-WEREWOLF PROTESTORS STORM THE MINISTRY**

"Oh my God," Ivy whispered. "What does it say?"

Remus pulled the paper back toward himself and scanned the article as thoroughly as he felt he was able. When he was done, he handed it over to Ivy, who snatched the paper from him and began skimming it for herself.

"It says that the protestors have now organized into one group," he explained as she read. "They've gone to the Ministry and demanded that harsher action be taken against werewolves. They want us branded and easily identifiable. They want to make sure that we can't work in places where 'decent people' work, and that we are not given government aid when we are in dire need. They say it's like giving money to Death Eaters and murderers."

Ivy had raised a hand to cover her mouth as she continued to read the article. "Remus…" she said shakily, "they have a whole section on you."

She handed the paper back to him, pointing at the section she had just read. Remus looked carefully at the small print:

_There is particular concern among the protestors about the continued appointment of Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin. One protestor commented, "Letting that monster teach such a dangerous subject is letting our children take an easy road into debauchery and evil. The cosmos know what sort of dark ways he is teaching the children of Hogwarts. We can only pray that they haven't been lost to his wicked ways yet."_

_The leader of the WPO (Werewolf Protestors Organization), Cynthia Dammers, has made it very clear that getting Lupin out of Hogwarts is one of the primary goals of the protestors: "Everyone knows that the only reason Remus Lupin is still at Hogwarts is because his wife is now the headmistress. The fact that Ivy Dumbledore has allowed this man access to the youth of our world is shameful and abhorrent. She may be lost, caught up in the spell that he has woven around her, but we will do our best to make sure that she sees the light, and realizes the obligation to the students and parents in the Hogwarts community. Divorcing herself completely from this creature is the only thing that will put the school back in balance."_

_Neither Headmistress Dumbledore, nor Professor Lupin have made any comments about the protestors, or Lupin's current standing as a staff member, now that these remonstrations have started._

Remus felt utterly ill. He looked to Ivy with fear in his eyes. She looked back at him with tears in her own.

"Oh, Remus," she whispered, "what are we going to do?"

He shook his head and stared blindly at the paper. He suddenly felt heavy, as if someone had loaded sacks of metal into his shoulders. Looking up, he noticed that many of the students were staring at him. Clearly, they had all read the article as well.

"Ivy."

They both looked up to find Minerva standing over them, a concerned expression on her face.

"For all we know, the protestors could be silenced in a week. Don't worry about this now."

"But Minerva," Ivy said in a distressed voice, "what happens if this movement gains momentum? What happens if people start listening to them?"

Minerva's back stiffened further, if that were possible. "I continue to have faith in people, Ivy. You should try to do the same. The good people in our world will not stand for this; it's a blatant violation of human rights."

"You forget, Minerva," Remus said softly, "to them we're not human."

"Oh, Remus, do stop being so dramatic," the older woman snapped back sharply. Remus had to wonder if she did it for him or for herself.

"I just have ta ask," Clayton interjected into the silence, "what would really be so bad about there being a clear and easy way of identifying a werewolf? I mean, it would make it easier for people to avoid getting bitten if they knew instantly that someone was a werewolf."

Remus looked at him incredulously. "The only time a werewolf can seriously harm you is when they're transformed. Branding or tagging only serves so that it is easier for people to be prejudice against werewolves. When it's plain for people to see, they are less likely to hire you, less likely to rent you a room to stay in, less likely to serve you. It is nothing short of bigotry."

Clayton did not seem at all moved by what Remus had said. "Yeah, but aren't there some werewolves who try ta bite people when they aren't transformed? It would be good if everyone knew who they were so that they could avoid having accidents. I've heard that partial bites can really mess a person up."

Remus shook his head irately. "There are only a handful of werewolves who attack when they aren't transformed, and the effect that usually leaves is minute. People just like finding ways to cool their paranoia about what they fear."

Clayton had the audacity to shrug. "Well, ya know what they say, one bad apple 'an all that…"

Remus pushed out from the table, stood up and glared at the Texan. "I'm not hungry anymore," he said through clenched teeth. With that, he stormed out of the Great Hall.

He had reached the staircase when he heard her voice behind him. "Remus, wait – "

He turned around to face her, anger etched on his countenance. "I really need to not talk about this right now, Ivy."

Ivy looked downcast, but brightened up again. "Then let's go do something. Just the two of us. We can get our minds off of this for a little bit, and figure out what to do later."

"I have classes. And I'm sure that you have something incredibly important to do."

"Remus, I care about my life more than I care about my job. I care more about you – "

"Well then, maybe your priorities are out of line."

Ivy closed her mouth abruptly at the cutting blow. She stared up at him as he walked up the stairs and vanished from sight.

He didn't dare turn around and look at her. He was tired of watching the pain he caused.

* * *

Sirius was in a not-so-good place. He had heard about the protests, but when he had gone to talk to Remus, he found his friend cold and unresponsive. Ivy seemed completely dazed and out of her element, as though she had suddenly forgotten who she was. He didn't ask either of them what had happened, as he was sure he'd get snapped at by one and ignored by the other. It looked like one of the strongest relationships he had ever seen was ripping apart at the seams. 

Guinevere had been on the rampage all week, partly due to the protestors, and partly due to their little spat after the football match. She'd been short with him all week, and he had just tried to stay out of her way.

But now it was Friday again, and he was supposed to be having dinner with his partner. He couldn't think of anything he'd less like to do.

He knocked on the door and waited a long time before it opened. Guinevere finally answered the door, in her apron, and motioned him inside.

"Dinner's nearly ready. You can put down your jacket and come and sit down, if you like."

She sounded like she was really saying, "I hate you. Get the fuck out of my house", but Sirius didn't think it was a good idea to mention that when she looked so positively unfriendly. Slipping off his leather jacket, he followed her back into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

He watched her work silently for a few seconds before he decided that he would try to be amicable.

"Do you need some – "

"No," she said quickly, cutting him off.

Sirius nodded to no one in particular and stared at the ceiling with mild interest. _I could fix that crack…_

Guinevere set a plate down in front of him, poured a glass of wine for him and sat down.

Sirius smiled, still attempting to salvage the evening before it was too late. "You still have your apron on," he pointed out. "I promised that I would let you know the next time that happened."

With a look of angry indifference, she quickly untied the apron and draped it over the back of her chair. She turned back to her food and began cutting up her lamb with fervor, her knife scraping the plate loudly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and decided that he would rather not try to be sweet and kind while she was busy wallowing in anger.

"Bloody hell, Guinevere! Why are we even trying? I mean that. Why are we trying? I can't do anything right, and you love being angry at me. So why don't we just let it go on like this? At each other's throats for the rest of our lives!"

To his surprise, Guinevere threw her fork at him. "Goddamn you, Sirius Black!" she shouted back. "Every time you do something wrong, you suddenly decide to act like I'm the bitch for dragging it on! You're the one screwing up here, all right? Not me! I'm not the problem here!"

Sirius actually laughed at her. "That's what this is about? Who has the problem? Well, when it comes to problems, _darling_, I'd say we've both got those in spades!"

She leaned forward. "What the hell would you know about my problems?"

He leaned forward. "I've been talking to your brother, remember? Remember how you were all paranoid about that? Well, it's true. I have been talking to him. I know all about you now. All those little nasty secrets that you've been keeping from everyone."

He stood up from the table and walked out of the kitchen, and she followed him, worried about what he'd say next.

He grabbed his jacket from the sofa and slipped it on, enjoying the feeling of the cool leather against his skin. "I know all about your intimacy issues. I know all about your fear of everything in the whole damn world! Hell, if I think about it hard enough, I'll probably remember your favorite sexual position!"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Guinevere screamed.

"I AM GETTING OUT OF YOUR HOUSE!" Sirius shouted back, opening the door and slamming it behind him.

He hadn't even gotten all the way down the stairs, when he heard the door open again.

"What are you doing?" she screeched down at him.

"I'm going out on the bike!" he yelled back angrily.

"You can't go out on the bike when you're angry like this, you'll crash in two seconds!"

"Oh, like you care!"

"I will care when Magical Law Enforcement shows up at my door, asking what led up to your speeding into a tree somewhere!"

"Sorry, my dear Guinevere, you're just going to have to live with the guilt!"

"Oh, I won't feel guilty! Just disappointed that I couldn't drive you to it sooner!"

"You sadistic bitch!"

"Oh, you haven't seen me be sadistic yet! Wait a few minutes, I'll come down there and cut the brake lines for your precious motorbike!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me, you bastard!"

"I'm leaving now, Guinevere!"

"Fine! Get out of here!"

Sirius desperately wanted to hit something very hard by the time he swung his leg over the bike. But as he focused on every terrible thing he could still say to Guinevere, he felt a sharp pain run down his back.

He wanted to ignore it. He knew what it was. And there was only one way to dull it. He needed to find a bar quick.

So he stifled his anger for little while longer, until he could drown himself in firewhiskey.

* * *

Remus had barely spoken to Ivy at all that week. She looked at him questioningly every time they crossed paths, but whenever he met her gaze she looked away. Clearly, she did not like what she saw in his eyes. 

But now it was Friday. Remus was planning on making it seem like he had to catch up on grading papers that weekend in order to avoid his wife, even though every essay had been thoroughly graded in the many extra hours he had while Ivy was working. He couldn't deal with her. Not when his world seemed on the verge of falling apart.

Now, he was simply looking forward to a night of rest. He arrived at his rooms early, knowing that Ivy was undoubtedly still finishing things up for the day, and walked directly to the bedroom.

Ivy was already in bed, reading.

When he opened the door, she looked up and smiled. It was too late for him to back out.

"Hey. I've been waiting for you to come back. I figured you'd be going to bed early again."

Remus nodded noncommittally and took off his robe, draping it over a chair by the door. He tried to proceed as though she wasn't in the room, unbuttoning his shirt with his back to her.

"The last transformation was hard on you, wasn't it? I figure that's the reason that you've been going to bed so early?"

Remus grunted in approval of her guess. Truthfully, his last transformation had been relatively smooth, and he had started going to bed early before that. She knew that. He couldn't figure out what she was playing at, not with all that innocence in her voice.

After laying his shirt on top of his robe, he moved to his bedside table, laying his wand on it, and pulling various other odds and ends out of his pockets. He heard shifting on the bed, and glanced back to see Ivy on her knees, shuffling toward him. Remus looked away, studying the spare bits of parchment he had just removed from his trousers. Ivy came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing herself against his back, kissing his shoulder.

He felt nothing.

Although he could still smell that damn man on her. How could she not notice that scent?

"I know you're mad at me," she whispered suddenly. "I don't pretend to know why."

He pulled away from her, undid his belt and removed his trousers, tossing them onto the chair with the rest of his clothes. He'd deal with them in the morning. He pulled a pair of pajama bottoms out of his dresser and put them on. Then he turned back to look at the bed.

She was sitting on her side again, watching him keenly with sad eyes. He took a deep, silent breath and walked to the bed. After a moments hesitation, he pulled down the covers and got in. He still wanted to avoid this confrontation. He turned away from her, lying down on his side, and turned off the lamp on his table. Reaching one arm up under his pillow to make himself more comfortable, he settled down and waited for sleep to take him.

But Ivy did not move. She was still sitting up. He could feel her eyes on his back. He tried to ignore it.

He tried to for a half an hour.

Finally, he sat up and looked at her. She stared right back.

"Ivy, what do you want?"

She blinked at him in surprise. "You," she said plainly, as if she had made it painfully obvious.

"I can't do this right now. I can't talk to you about what's going on."

"Then talk to me about something else. Or just sit here with me. Just be here with me right now, in this moment. Don't be so far away."

Remus couldn't look at her when she was like this. It always made him feel terrible when Ivy seemed helpless, but now it also made him angry. She had no right to compound his problems. It wasn't his fault that she was driving him away.

"It was my birthday today," she said softly.

Remus' mouth gaped open. He looked at her.

"We had a party in the staffroom. Nearly-Headless Nick tried to bake me a cake. Luckily, the house elves had a backup. It was a great party, but I was a little upset. Because the one person who I wanted to be there, wasn't. I don't know what he was doing today…. I don't know what he does any day."

He had no words. There was no way to get out of this one.

"Ivy – "

"You forgot," she said with a patient smile on her face. She brought a hand up to his cheek, her fingers whispering over it tenderly. "That's okay. I don't need to know what you've been preoccupied with. I just want you here with me."

Remus tried to ignore the hand on his skin. He tried to figure out what the correct move was in this situation. He knew what he would normally do, but nothing was the same anymore. He didn't even feel really sorry, he just knew that he should. That was the most sickening part of all.

"Please."

That one, pleading word from her lips made up his mind. His heart was somewhere else. His love for her was lost at that moment in time. But she needed something. And he needed to make everything seem like normal for the time being. Until everything straightened itself out.

So he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, and reached his hands down to her hips to pull up her nightgown. She lifted her arms instinctually, as he removed the clothing and dropped it on the floor. He reached over her quickly and turned out the lamp on her table. Then, with one hand under her back to cradle her, he tilted her down onto the mattress, his lips moving to her neck as he heard her gasp.

It all felt robotic. Like he wasn't in control of his own body. He knew what made her feel good, and that's what he would do. And everything would seem normal again.

And maybe she would stop trying to figure out what was wrong.

His hands traveled down to her breasts and he moved his thumbs in slow circles while his tongue wandered over the shell of her ear. Ivy made noises riddled with such debauchery that he knew he should have been tempted to enjoy himself as well.

But whenever he thought of that, images filled his head. Images of another man with sandy hair, a perfect body, and a twangy accent. Images of that man lying on top of her, working his way in and out. Licking every inch of her body while she made those same sinful noises.

She made those noises for that man, and she called out his name. Her hands threading through his sandy hair the way they used to thread through his…

They were just images in his head, but they made him feel sick. And he couldn't join her when he felt repulsed by her.

So he continued his systematic attack on her senses. He hoped that she wouldn't notice how far he was removed from the situation. It was silly of him to hope.

From the first kiss, she knew.

She knew he wasn't there. There was no need in his lips. His body felt cold next to hers. She wanted to stop him, but it had been so long since he'd touched her…

It had been so long that she couldn't stop him. Especially when he knew just how to make her crazy, exactly wear to stroke and tease and kiss.

His hands moved further down, finally finding purchase between her legs. The feeling shot through her, making her dizzy, but she wanted to cry out to him to stop. She didn't want this. Not this way.

In a desperate move to try and get him involved, she moved her hand to the waistband of his pajamas. He caught her wrist and placed it on the pillow next to her head, his eyes hollow and unseeing.

"Remus – " she called shakily.

He shushed her with a hand against her mouth. His other hand continued to work her into a fever pitch.

And she hated herself. She hated herself for not having the strength to make him stop. But it had been so _long_ since he had touched her…

Not one hug. Not one kiss or a hand on the shoulder. It had been weeks. That overdriven display in her office, and then everything had stopped. He didn't even look at her for more than five seconds at a time.

His assault continued. He had been working her for some time, but she was not finding release. She found herself conjuring up images of the other times they had been together. Hopefully, it would push her over the edge and they could stop this humiliation.

She focused on the second time during their wedding night. He had been gentle and possessive, and so very playful. His eyes lit by a warmth that was coming from within. And he had studied her every expression, memorized what sent her reeling. He had touched every part of her body to find out where her sweet spots were –

She gasped and cried out, finally reaching the edge. But as she quickly came down, the feeling in her stomach was the one that normally came right after vomiting. It was shaky and painful and spread to every muscle in her body.

Remus didn't notice this.

"Goodnight," he said softly.

Then he rolled over on his side, facing away from her, and fell asleep.

Ivy did not sleep that night. She simply stared at the man on the other side of the bed. No tears fell from her eyes. Her heart was too clenched to allow them.

And she wondered over and over again, _what has happened to us?_

_

* * *

_

Guinevere had not gone to sleep. She was waiting for him to get back.

It had been hours since their fight, since he'd taken that motorbike out to God-knew-where. She didn't know why she couldn't sleep until she knew he was back. But she was sitting up on her sofa, waiting for the telltale rumble of that obnoxious engine.

Finally, she heard something at the edge of her senses. It steadily grew louder and louder, until it was clearly on her street. She got up and went to the door, opening it in time to see Sirius crash into the trash cans out front as the bike came to a halt. Instead of moving the bike back, he simply waved his hand at it in annoyance, and staggered toward the door to his flat.

He had a bottle in his hand. And he was already drunk enough that Guinevere was at a loss to explain how he had gotten home in one piece.

She stood out on the landing of the stairs and looked down at him. He was having considerable trouble opening the door.

"What have you been doing all this time?" she called down.

He looked up at her, his eyes squinting unnecessarily. "I'm not talking to you," he said with a definite drunken slur. The door finally opened and he tripped into his flat.

Guinevere followed after him, entering his home without permission. "You are pathetic, do you know that? Getting smashed like this at your age! You're not a teenager anymore, Sirius."

"And you're not my bloody mother!" he shouted back. "Though you might as well be. I hated her too…"

He took off his jacket and dropped it on the floor, wincing. Then, without warning, he pulled his shirt over his head and threw that to the ground as well.

Guinevere expected to be impressed by the build of Sirius Black's back and shoulders. Every girl in school used to talk about how impressive his body was when they were younger. Instead, she gasped.

This was not the boy she had known all those years ago.

He had two tattoos on his back. The one on his left shoulder blade read "damned" in an ancient demonic language that Guinevere had studied in her research on vampires. On his lower back just above his belt line, there was a symbol of the old pagan god that controlled the forces of evil.

And running across his back, there were scars from whip wheals. One of them was not a scar, though. It was bleeding steadily, the crimson liquid running down Sirius' back.

"What happened to you?" she whispered, rushing to his side and placing a hand on his arm.

Sirius pulled away from her instantly. "Just an old wound that acts up every now and then. Usually when I'm upset."

Guinevere did not understand how whip wheals could suddenly reopen without the body having tremendous strain placed on it, but she didn't think he would be able to explain that very well in his current state.

"How did you get these wounds?"

Sirius took a long swig from the bottle he was holding before he answered. "Azkaban."

Her eyes widened in shock. "They did this to you in prison?"

Sirius nodded sardonically. "Yeah. Thought it was a real laugh, they did."

"The dementors?" Guinevere supplied, trying to understand what she was being told.

Sirius laughed harshly. "No, not the dementors. They have plenty of fun without needing physical torture. But people were sent to check up on the prisoners. High officials cronies and whatnot. They liked to 're-interrogate' for information. Most of them just liked the sound of screaming. And they enjoyed doing bits of artwork on your skin, as I'm sure you've also noticed."

He turned around and stepped closer to her, holding out his arm, palm up. On the inside of his forearm she saw another tattoo, a series of numbers.

"They branded you with your prison number after you were there for a few years. Said it was good to make you feel like one of the family."

"My God…" Guinevere said softly.

"Oh, they'd have none of that," Sirius shot back, waving the bottle in front of her face. "No God for you. After all, your soul is lost and your heart has shrunken to the size of a spec of coal. What could you possibly need with God? And more importantly, what reason would God have to answer your prayers?"

Guinevere didn't need to hear this. She didn't want to know about his experiences in Azkaban. After all, she was too busy hating the man. He was bastard. So why did she feel so guilty when she looked at him like this?

"I can clean that," she began, removing her wand from her pocket.

"No, don't – " Sirius began.

But Guinevere had already muttered a spell to clear the wound. When the gash looked manageable enough to start a wound closure charm, however, a new spill of blood cascaded down his back. Much more blood than the first time.

"The wounds don't respond well to magic healing," Sirius hissed in pain. "They didn't want anyone coming in and having an easy time cleaning you up. Mainly because no one would bother to lend you a hand in there if it required more than five seconds of their time. Even the prison doctor wouldn't fix you up if he actually had to touch you. Didn't want any sort of real contact with such vile characters as us."

"But you didn't…" Guinevere's voice trailed off.

Sirius turned around to look at her with a twisted smile. "Ah, but I did, remember? Back then, I was the one who killed James and Lily Potter…"

He had stopped suddenly, and without warning he staggered toward the window, leaving the bottle on the coffee table. Bracing himself against the glass with one hand on either side of the pane, he stared up at the dark sky.

"You didn't know James very well," Sirius said hoarsely, his eyes still fixed on the stars. "He had the most contagious laugh, the easiest smile. He knew how to make every problem in the world go away in the space of one minute. He just always knew exactly what to say. When I was in Azkaban, every moment of our friendship was erased. He was the only person who had saved me when everything was going to hell, and suddenly he was gone. But I deserved that."

Guinevere didn't know how to stop him, even though she knew that he would regret this outburst in the morning. So she fed him instead in hopes that he would get everything out of his system. "Why?"

"… I killed him," Sirius whispered, dropping his forehead to the glass pane.

She didn't know what to say or even what he meant. She decided to keep listening.

And she didn't have to wait long for him to elaborate. "I told him that Peter was a better choice than I was for a secret keeper because no one would ever suspect him. He asked me to do it, and I told him to hand his life, and the life of his family, over to that vermin. And when I think back on it now, after all the time reliving that moment in prison at the behest of the dementors, I can't tell whether I did it because I honestly felt that way, or if I did it because I was too much of a coward to do what he asked of me."

Guinevere walked up behind him, standing at his back. "You are not a coward," she said firmly. "You are many things I dislike, but you are not a coward, Sirius."

He snorted. "You don't know me, Guinevere. How would you know I'm not a coward? You don't know who I am at all. After all, I am a member of the Noble And Most Ancient House of Black."

He spoke those last words with such hatred in his voice that Guinevere's skin crawled.

"What are your parents like?" Sirius asked.

"Well, they're gone now," Guinevere clarified, "but they were good parents. A bit strict I suppose, but then again, I think I turned out a lot more anal than they ever were. They were just both very intelligent and hard-working. And they worried about us constantly, they were very protective."

Sirius turned back to her, the same cheerless smile on his face. He leaned back against the window because he couldn't stand up straight. It seemed that he was plenty chatty when he was drunk, but coordination was something else entirely.

"You were lucky," he said shortly. "My parents were pureblood sadists. And they loved telling my brother and I about the nobility of our family line whenever they could spare a breath. There are few people in the world that I reserve absolute hatred for; it isn't worth the energy to hate most people. But for my parents, I could always find the extra energy. From the time I was a little kid."

Guinevere couldn't believe what she was hearing. Certainly she had known the reputation of Sirius' family, but she always assumed that he had agreed with their ideals. _What would it have been like growing up in that house if you didn't agree with the master and mistress?_

"And they hated me," Sirius continued, as if in response to Guinevere's thoughts. "But they loved my poor brother. Daft little bloke that he was."

Sirius adopted a rather high, obnoxious screech, that Guinevere assumed was the voice he used to imitate his mother.

"Oh, Regulus, you're such a good boy! You understand the importance of being a Black, of being true to your family. Unlike that little traitor that we have living under our roof. If he doesn't shape up soon, he'll have to start watching his meals. I've been considering poison for some time…"

Staggering over to the coffee table to snatch up the bottle, he continued his theatrics, one hand shooting out to brace himself on the furniture he passed.

"Sirius Black, you get down here at once! If I hear one more word about you talking to mudbloods and spending time with that monster and that Potter boy, I'll beat you with this cane and lock you up in the attic with the ashes of your ancestors! Maybe that will teach you to respect your heritage, you miserable little wretch!"

He had made it to the hallway, and was now zigzagging down it in search of his bedroom. Guinevere followed to make sure that he got there all right.

"Yes, mother, he's in Gryffindor. No, we don't know what to do about it. We were going to contest it, but the little beast had the nerve to tell us that he wanted to be in Gryffindor! And that he has friends there! We don't know what to do with him, mother, we really don't. We were thinking of taking him to see that doctor that the Malfoys mentioned. He's supposed to work wonders with hopeless cases like him. It causes a great deal of pain and sometimes brain damage, but I think it would be worth it. If only Regulus wouldn't get so upset every time I mentioned it, he would be there already…"

Sirius took another swig from the bottle dropped it. The glass shattered on the floor, and Guinevere jumped out of the way to keep away from the flying shards. Then Sirius crawled onto his bed and flopped down, head buried in his pillow. He was sprawled across the entire bed, but it looked like he was comfortable, and more importantly, it looked like he was out for the night.

Guinevere was going to leave, but then she heard his words echoing in her head, and she couldn't bear to leave him that way. So she used her wand to put the bottle back together, picked it up, and walked to Sirius' bathroom.

It wasn't well stocked with any sort of first aid supplies, but Guinevere found some clean bandages and a washcloth. She walked back to his room, left those items on his bedside table, and then went to his kitchen. After searching in the cabinets, she found a bowl and filled it with water. She went back to the bedroom.

She moved Sirius over carefully on the bed and sat down beside him. Then she grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey, took a quick sip from it, and poured a liberal amount onto Sirius' wound. He squirmed in his sleep and growled in pain, but she poured more of the alcohol on, and eventually he quieted.

Turning back to the table, she took the washcloth and dipped it into the bowl. She patted his back with the cloth, and when he started shifting again this time, she let a hand trail across the uninjured parts of his back to sooth him. Though he stilled instantly at the touch, she found her hands kept wandering, now over the tattoos on his back, wondering what his life had been like during those twelve years.

And she pitied him. Against her own better judgment, she pitied how he had changed. What they had taken from him. Because even though he still had the same spark, the same wit, the same maddening charm, a part of his fire had died out. It was probably good for him – he couldn't stay twenty forever. But at the same time, he should have been able to make those changes on his own terms.

When she was sure the wound was clean, she bandaged it up, and wrestled him around so she could pull the blankets over him. When he was finally under the covers and turned on his side so he could breathe, she allowed herself to push the hair out of his eyes, and was very nearly outraged at the fact that it was just as soft and silky as it looked.

But she dismissed her anger at how unfairly blessed some people were, and settled simply on whispering, "Goodnight."

Sirius gave a tiny nod in reply and pushed his nose into the pillow. Guinevere straightened up and walked briskly from the house, now feeling very tired and more than ready for a good night's sleep.

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Yeah… I told you it wouldn't be the happiest…. But, fear not! Some things will get better in looks through story… two chapters. So hang in there, and all will be well. I hope you are enjoying where all of this is going – it took me places I didn't expect, but I'm very happy with the story, all in all. I'd love to know what you all thought of this chapter, as it is quite dark, so please review! It makes me full of happy, and gives me lots of incentive ;) 


	8. Registry, Protests, and Runins

Disclaimer:oh, really people, you have to know this by know...

Okay, so was going to update for **Brielle Lupin's **birthday, but then I got very sick, and my beta was too busy to get me the chapter and such. I'm sorry Brielle! But here's your belated b-day present - I hope it's to your liking!

One of my lovely betas also has a note for you all, that she wanted me to give you guys:

_ So you know that little voice in your head that tells you to do things? No, not burn things ... that's a different little voice. Mine's been telling me "you should beta this story!" However, it's also been telling me "you should write about the characters that are arguing in your head! You should do your laundry! You should study for midterms! You should go find a boyfriend! You should call your mother!" Well, two out of six isn't bad, right? (Hey, it's the same as one out of three, which is what Hermione got when she announced that Remus was a werewolf in the first place.)_

_Well, having proved my dorkiness with that parenthetical remark (and by using the word "parenthetical" in the first place), enjoy this chapter. The next one will be here before you can say Jack Robinson, I promise. _

So love on my beta. Because she is special.

**Author's Note: **Wow, you all had wonderfully strong reactions to the last chapter. Which makes me happy. Good or bad, if you reacted that much to it, I must be doing something right :). **Here's the thing:** if you're not logged in under your your penname, I can't respond to your review. Some of you don't have penname's, which is cool, I understand. I didn't respond to some of the reviews because I couldn't. **So here's my master plan:** if you don't have a username, or don't want to log in, you can leave your email address in that little box above the review box. If you leave your email address, I will assume that you want a response to your reivew and I will email one to you. I didn't this time around because I wasn't sure if people were okay with that, but from now on, if you leave your email address, you will get a response from me. Sounds good? If you don't want a reponse, just don't put down your email. Special Thank You's to **squirrely doughnut, tatjana, ShadowCaster**, **TheLadyofShalott1** (it wouldn't let me put the underscores in... weird), and **NYCGAL** for all submitting reviews even though I couldn't respond to them. If you want me to respond to them still, just let me know in your next review and leave your email, and I'll be happy too :) Or you can just email me directly and let me know, I won't mind - and I don't bite either (well, that's not entirely true, Remus has had a bad influence on me...)

Also, I want to thank so many of you for the wonderfully long reviews you've been giving me. I know some people don't have time, or don't like to give long reviews, and I don't mind at all, but the really long ones are so gratifying and helpful - I love hearing what you specifically enjoy about the story, it means so much. So thank you all again.

**Another general note:** Yes, I know. The sadness. Don't worry. It will be resolved soon. And the sex will more than make up for it, I promise. That's right people - the next chapter is rated NC-17 for pretty graphic, fabulous werewolf sex. Again, if this bugs you, let me know rather than running to and getting me in trouble. Or just skip over the section - I will label it in the next chapter for your convenience if you don't want to read it. Though, I have a funny feeling that you all want to read it... (admit it, you're all just as pervy as I am, otherwise, why would you read fanfic? giggle)

All right everyone, enjoy the chapter. The next one should be up as soon as I'm satisfied with it, which I hope will be in a few weeks. Hang in there. Oh, and I hope you enjoy Sirius and Guinvere's trip to the grocery store. They're morphing dangerously into cuteness, just like I'd hoped :)_**  
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_**Chapter Eight – Registry, Protest, and Run-ins**_

Remus was almost ready to leave. He had to go to the Werewolf Registry with Charlie today, and he didn't want to be late. Sirius would be with the boy, but the Registry didn't look kindly on people when they arrived late. It was the kind of thing they liked to put on your record so they could bring it up at a later date, as if it was some sort of testament to your character. Like only evil, foul people were ever late.

He did not bother saying goodbye to Ivy – she had been very distant with him in the past few days. Whenever he spoke to her, she had a hard time responding, like she had something that she wanted to say, but she couldn't get it out. He was glad that she couldn't for many reasons, none that he cared to linger on.

On the stairs, he passed Severus Snape, who was storming up them in his usual fashion.

"Classes going well, Severus?" he inquired mildly, coming to a halt on his way down.

"Only as well as can be expected, what with how utterly useless many of these children can be," Snape replied in his deliberate drawl, stopping on the stairs as well.

Remus smiled at the shot of normalcy that he was receiving via his colleague. "And what about your assistant?"

At that question, something in the back of Snape's black eyes almost lit. "He's… better," Snape decided, choosing his words carefully as if to avoid any real emotion. "He actually seems to be getting involved in his work now. He can be very helpful in class with the students. I am not overoptimistic, but if he continues in this direction, I can see him making definite progress in his life."

"That's wonderful news, Severus," Remus exclaimed. "I'm glad that he finally warmed up to his situation. I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Snape scowled. "It doesn't do well to put your faith in silly superstitions such as those, Lupin."

Remus smiled. "It's just a figure of speech, Severus."

Snape suddenly paused, as if he remembered something. "Today you're going to the–"

"Yes," Remus finished for him. "Yes, I'm going there today."

Snape shot him a look of significance. Remus wondered if that was the closest to sympathy that the man had ever come, and was nearly flattered. He nodded to his fellow professor.

"I'll see you later, Severus."

"Yes, indeed. Good day."

Remus continued on his way until he was in his office, where he could use the floo network. He walked over to his fireplace, threw in some powder, and shouted, "Ministry of Magic", and before he knew it, he was clambering out of a fireplace in the main floo hall at the Ministry. He quickly made his way to one of the lifts and waited patiently as people exited on each floor.

When the doors opened and Remus heard the words, "Level 4: The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures", he did not wait to hear the subdivisions of the level. He quickly left the lift and made a quick turn to the right, having walked this path many more times than he cared to admit.

He saw Sirius standing with a young boy and two adults who must have been the boy's parents. They were waiting in front of two oak doors that led into the Registry offices. Sirius looked relieved when Remus came into his sights.

"Sirius," Remus greeted, smiling.

"Remus, I'd like to introduce you to someone who has been rather keen on meeting you," Sirius began, then switching to an undertone to whisper, "Thank God you're here. Guinevere couldn't make it, she's held up somewhere, or she's just mad at me. I can never tell." He turned to the boy and nodded, indicating that it was all right if he approached the tall man standing in front of them. "Charlie, this is my friend Remus."

Charlie waved up at him, a little hesitant. "Hi."

Remus' eyes shone warmly, and he kneeled in front of the boy so he wouldn't seem quite so tall to him. "Hello, Charlie. What's that book you've got there?"

The boy held it out so he could see the cover. "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea."

Remus glanced up at Sirius, who mouthed the words 'told you', and grinned back at him. "Jules Verne. One of my favorite authors."

Charlie looked skeptical. "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel good?"

Remus laughed. "No, I wouldn't lie about that. Although, I think you've beat me on age – I didn't read that book until I was nine."

The boy smiled. "Beat you by two years, then."

"Two years? That is impressive." He took a moment before he changed the topic to something not quite as enjoyable. "I understand that this is your first time to the Registry."

Charlie nodded quickly. "It's my first time to the Ministry too."

"Ah, so this must be quite a lot for you to digest."

"Yes. I think Sirius is annoyed with all the questions I've been asking."

"I most certainly am not," Sirius chided. "I told you to ask whatever you wanted. This is a lot for anyone to handle, especially someone who's not a part of our world."

Charlie smiled bashfully at Sirius, and turned back to Remus. "I hear they're not nice here," he whispered.

Remus could tell that the boy would only appreciate honesty, so didn't sugarcoat his answer. "Yes, that's true, but not everyone is terrible. And if you stick with me it will be a lot easier. After your first visit to the Registry they won't call on you very often, but when they do, it is important that you show up. And I will always be there if you want me to join you. This place is not the kind that you want to brave alone."

Charlie's eyes sparkled with gratitude before sobering quickly. "When we got to this floor I heard the voice mention some different divisions. One of them was the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures – "

The unspoken question lingered in his voice, and Remus didn't give him the chance to ask it. "You will never have to deal with them, I promise. Some werewolves choose to be dangerous to others, and the Committee has to deal with them, but you are not like those people. You have nothing to fear from them. And not all Departments are hostile to us. Werewolf Support Services are there whenever you need them."

Charlie looked up curiously to Sirius. "Aren't you part of that section?"

Sirius shook his head. "We're a division that's not completely government funded. Sometimes the Ministry departments can't do enough for all of you. So we work to make sure that you're all covered, and we don't just work with werewolves. It helps to have a division that can take care of all of you, vampires and giants included, so that when there are uprisings and prejudice issues everyone can go to the same place to make claims. Especially since there are no sections in the Ministry for the protection of certain magical beings."

Charlie glanced around carefully, soaking in all of the new information. "I don't see Werewolf Support Services here."

Remus rolled his eyes angrily. "That's because they are part of the Being Division here. Everything else involving werewolves is part of the Beast Division. It's one of the more hypocritical moves the Ministry made when this level was organized."

"That's not right," Charlie decided.

"No, it isn't," Remus agreed, "but it's the best they will do for us."

"I hate to interrupt this…" a male voice broke in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we got a little caught up," Sirius apologized. "Remus Lupin, this is Mr. and Mrs. Walden, Charlie's parents."

Remus shook both of their hands, noting that the father's firm grip seemed to be a warning, while the mother's grip was a gentle thank you. "I assure that your son will be safe with us. It's probably best that you wait out here, though. We don't want to make a fuss by having too many people with Charlie."

Mrs. Walden nodded immediately, cutting off her husband who looked like he wanted to protest. "Of course, Mr. Lupin, of course."

"Please, call me Remus, Mrs. Walden."

"Then you must call me Amy."

Remus smiled and placed a hand on Charlie's back. "Are you ready?"

The boy nodded bravely, staring ahead at the doors to the Registry.

"Then let's get this over with," Sirius insisted encouragingly. He opened the doors, and he and Remus led Charlie in.

Once the doors had shut behind them, Charlie looked around to see a large front desk ahead of them and a smaller one off to the side. Remus tried to avert Charlie's attention from the smaller desk, as he knew what it was. The Werewolf Capture Unit kept their people at the front of the Registry to make sure that they could answer all calls quickly. Their people were easy to spot. They were usually large, burly men with more than one deep scratch or partial bite mark on their faces, arms, and necks.

Remus turned Charlie away from that area, as many of the men from the Unit were already eyeing them suspiciously. They all seemed to be on tea break and were chatting at their front desk as the trio had entered. Remus did not want to allow them a moment to speak.

He led Charlie to the larger desk where a scrawny woman sat reading a magazine. She looked rather bored, and Remus had to clear his throat twice before she looked up and noticed them.

"Oh, Mr. Lupin. Coming to check in?"

Remus nodded. "And to register the boy."

She looked out over her horn-rimmed glasses at Charlie. "He's not yours, is he?"

Remus cringed inwardly at the suggestion. She was insinuating that Charlie was Remus' son, but the part that made Remus' stomach turn was the fact that she was also suggesting that he had bitten him. "No. But it's his first time here, and he wanted to go with someone who knew their way around."

She tapped her wand against the large file cabinet behind her. Drawers opened and closed. "What's the name?"

"Walden," Remus answered. "Charlie Walden."

A file quickly flew out of one of the bottom drawers and landed in her hands. She glanced over it quickly. "Ah, yes, the new muggle boy." Not bothering to see if she was hurting the boy's feelings, she grabbed her quill and began scratching information onto the file. "He's had his first transformation?"

"Yes."

"With or without Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Without."

She glanced up quickly at that. "Will he be receiving it in the future?"

"Yes."

"Has he bitten anyone?"

Charlie opened his mouth like he was offended and wanted to say something, but Remus shot him a look, and the boy quieted immediately.

"No."

"Did he obtain any major injuries during his first transformation?"

"No."

"Does he have any terminal illnesses or history of medical trauma?"

"No."

"Is he taking any potions or muggle medications, if so, what and for how long?"

"No."

"Any severe allergies?"

Remus had been going on assumption, knowing that Charlie would stop him if he was wrong, but this time he glanced to Charlie, who shook his head.

"No."

"Are there any health issues that should be on his record in case of an emergency?"

He checked again with the boy. "No."

"What are the names of the boy's legal guardians?"

Remus nodded to Charlie that it was all right for him to answer this time. "Amy and Leonard Walden."

She showed him the file, her quill pointing to a specific line. "Are these their places of employment, and your home address?"

Charlie looked astounded that the information was already there. "Yes."

The woman closed the file and handed it to the boy. "You'll be needing this. Proceed to the next station."

Charlie took the file, but waited for Remus. The woman tapped one of the drawers and another, much thicker file came flying into her hands. She opened it and skimmed her way through. "Nothing different from last time, right Mr. Lupin?"

Remus cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, marital status has changed."

Her eyes widened, and she stared up at him. "Really? Who's the little lady?"

"Ivy Dumbledore."

She gave a short, humorless laugh. "So you're the one that nabbed the headmistress of Hogwarts! Looks like I'm gonna have to watch out for you more than I had ever expected. Aren't you the one that the protestors are going after to get you fired and divorced?"

Remus stared at his file, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Yes, I suppose."

"Well then," she exclaimed, changing some of the information in his file before handing it to him, "you take care, I suppose."

Remus quickly took the file from her, and proceeded to the next station with Charlie and Sirius in tow.

"There are protestors who are trying to get you fired?" Charlie questioned. The news seemed to have worried the boy, and Sirius shook his head quickly, hoping to keep their trip as pleasant as possible.

"They won't be able to do that, the Ministry won't allow the protests to get out of hand. They can't force him to resign."

Remus did not say what he thought because he knew that it would bother Charlie. However, if Sirius had been the only one there, he would have had quite a lot to say to his friend's optimistic remark. He was beginning to wish he had stayed home today.

They had reached the Examinations Office, and Remus knew they would get separated at this point. He turned to Charlie.

"You're going to get a doctor. That doctor will be the same one that you go to every time you come here to check in. Some of them are very nice, but some of them aren't. I will have to go for my own examination, but Sirius will be with you for yours. Okay?"

Charlie nodded again, drawing himself up so that he could feel a little taller. A woman sitting behind the office desk, stood up in her white uniform and pointed to Remus.

"Doctor Adderby is ready to see you, Mr. Lupin. Room 12."

Remus gave one last look to Charlie and Sirius before walking down the hall and stepping into Room 12. His doctor was already waiting for him, looking over some old charts.

"Do you know that I have been checking you over since you were five?"

Remus cracked a small smile at the balding, stout man in front of him. "Hello, Thomas."

"You look a little different from the first time I met you."

Remus raised an eyebrow at him. "Only a little?"

"You have a few grey hairs now."

Remus laughed at the mention of 'a few' grey hairs. Truth be told, his hair was liberally streaked with grey now, something that had never really bothered him. Especially when Ivy told him that he looked distinguished. He felt an inward sting and quickly banished any thought of his wife.

"And you've allowed your experiences to age you more than you should."

Remus nodded heavily at the truthfulness of that statement, as he sat on the exam table. He knew that he'd always developed those extra lines before most of the people his age did. He blamed the transformations, but once Minerva had said to him that she felt it was also because he let the pain and worry that he'd felt through his life, show physically. It was an interesting theory, but what was he supposed to do about that?

Dr. Adderby approached him with his wand held ready.

"But your eyes have always been the same. Always wise beyond their years, always keen and curious, and always thinking too fast and too much."

Remus chuckled. "Spoken like a true physician."

"Well, I hope so," said Dr. Adderby.

He tapped his wand against Remus' chest, and Remus could hear his heartbeat.

"Heartbeat good."

The wand tapped his arm, and Remus felt a lot of pressure around it. After a few seconds, two numbers appeared in the air.

"Blood pressure good."

The doctor whispered _"Lumos"_, and checked Remus' ears and throat.

"Stand up, now."

Remus did as he was told. The doctor whispered a few more words, pointed his wand at Remus and let it trail from the top of his head to his feet. A bright flash lit the room, and then there was a skeletal imprint hovering between them. Remus sat down on the table again, while the doctor examined the imprint.

Once he got to Remus' left leg, he stopped. "I don't like this one. You come usually once a year, but how long has it been since I checked your skeleton?"

Remus breathed out a sigh as he tried to think back. "Long time. Years and years."

Dr. Adderby shook his head. "Damn. You should have told me about this. You broke it several years back, didn't you?"

Remus nodded uneasily.

"And you didn't go to a doctor to set it, did you?"

Remus' eyes drifted to the floor. "Well, no. Things weren't going well, and I didn't have the ability or the means to see a doctor about it."

"You know better than that, Remus. There are places that you can go to for help if you're having trouble."

"I didn't have the time. It was a big struggle to stay alive eight years back. And I didn't want anyone to see me like that anyway. I was practically living underground for about five years there."

Dr. Adderby was still scolding Remus with a glare. "I know things can get rough, and I know that you're one of the few who feel that it's important to be dignified, but there is nothing wrong about asking for help when life kicks the shit out of you."

"It was just a broken leg – "

"Well, that broken leg might cause you problems later on."

Remus cocked his head to the side. "How so?"

The doctor pointed to his leg on the imprint before them. "Well, it healed quite well, all things considered, but it wasn't taken care of. You probably tried walking on it too fast, knowing you, because you wanted to be up and about as soon as possible. You probably tried to walk on it while it was still broken too, didn't you?"

Remus did not meet the doctor's gaze.

"I think it will take some time, but eventually that bone is going to weaken with your transformations. You might not be able to walk correctly on it in time. There's a chance that one of your transformations will leave the bone in the wrong place and continue to do that. Transformations get funny as you get older, you know that."

Remus nodded shortly, trying not to let his mind go there. "How long does the leg have?"

"I can't say. Five years, ten. Maybe longer, but you never can tell."

"Damn."

Dr. Adderby didn't like seeing Remus that down, but he had noticed that his patient seemed off today. Like there was an invisible cloud hanging over the room that only Remus could see. So he tried to figure out what the deal was. After all, he was the man's doctor, and he was up to a little psychology today.

"Heard you got yourself married."

Remus' head shot up. "What? Oh, yes."

"I think I remember you talking about her when you were younger. You have been friends for a long time, haven't you?"

Remus wasn't sure where the conversation was going, but he wasn't going to be rude to the man for asking simple questions. "Yes, we have. We had a long falling out for many years, which was all my fault, but we managed to find each other again. We got married this summer."

"That's great. I'm really happy for you, no one deserves it more."

"Not so sure about that."

The doctor frowned. "What that you should be married or that you should be happy?"

"Both."

"That doesn't sound like you, Remus."

"It's been a rough patch lately," Remus responded ambiguously.

The doctor decided to change the subject again. "I also read somewhere that you've got a lad over from America observing how the school is run. That's got to be interesting." He waited for Remus to say something, but got nothing in return. "So how is that going?"

"Fine."

Dr. Adderby smiled. "You really have to learn how to lie better, Remus."

Remus looked up and tried to smile. "Only to the people who know me."

"That bad, eh? I take it you don't like the man."

"Oh, he's fine, I suppose – "

"_Remus._"

" – All right, I can't stand him. He spends far too much time with my wife, and his intentions are most definitely not honorable."

The doctor nodded knowingly. "Have you told your wife that?"

Remus threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly. "Why does everyone keep going on about that?"

"Marriage is supposed to be based on honesty, Remus."

"He's assisting her, it's not my place to tell her that she should get a new assistant."

"It is if he's behaving inappropriately."

Remus did not say more.

The doctor set his wand down on the table behind him. "He's really gotten under your skin, hasn't he? I can tell, you aren't acting like yourself. You're a bit more primal than usual." His concern outweighed his fear that Remus might be getting angry with him for pressing, and he continued. "How do you feel around him, Remus?"

The start was hesitant. "I wasn't so bad at the beginning, but lately…" He watched as the man's eyes narrowed into slits. "Lately… I've wanted to kill him. I dream about it at night."

Dr. Adderby's eyes widened slightly. "You have to be very careful, Remus."

"I know that, Thomas. Believe me, you're not the first person to say that."

"If you ever need to talk to someone, I'm always here. I'm your doctor, and I'll always be here to help. You call on me day or night."

Remus managed a careful smile. "Thank you, Thomas. I will let you know if I need any help at all. Are we done here?"

Dr. Adderby nodded and handed Remus his file. "And don't let the protestors get you down. They're all heavy-winded, small-minded simpletons, if you ask me. And the Ministry hasn't bowed to them yet in our history."

Remus smiled gratefully, though his mind was saying, _there's a first time for everything…_

"I'll see you later, Thomas."

"All right, Remus. See you next time."

He met Sirius and Charlie at the end of the hall. Charlie did not seem upset, which alleviated some of Remus' anxiety.

"How was the doctor, Charlie?"

"She was fine," the boy answered. "She wasn't very friendly, but she wasn't mean to me, so I guess that's good."

"Wonderful. Let's continue on, then. Shall we?"

Charlie nodded and followed Remus down another hallway that had peeling yellow wallpaper. It wasn't anywhere near as clean as the doctor's hallway, and it smelled terrible.

"What's here?" Charlie whispered.

"Wolfsbane Testing," Remus answered.

At the end of the hallway, they reached a door, and Remus opened it. A man with beady eyes, a monocle and a potbelly sat at the desk, filling out forms. When Remus, Charlie and Sirius stepped in, he looked up angrily.

"Mr. Ebbins," Remus greeted, handing his and Charlie's files over.

Mr. Ebbins looked over their files swiftly, snorted, and looked back up. His monocle made his right eye look much bigger, and he glared at them through it. "Have you been taking your Wolfsbane Potion, Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes, and I believe that Professor Snape has sent in the required letter to confirm that I have been taking the potion, so you shouldn't have to test me."

Mr. Ebbins looked quite offended at this, and he wiped the sweat off of his forehead before standing up. "Well, I think that I should check you just in case."

Remus tried to remain polite and calm, but his anxiety came through in his voice. "Is that really necessary?"

Mr. Ebbins cracked a victorious smile. "'Fraid so. In fact, I think I might do both tests, just in case."

Remus wanted to protest, but he could tell that Ebbins was in a torturing mood today, and getting upset would do him no good. So he followed the man to a station at the back of the room where several cauldrons were boiling, and different ingredients bubbled.

First, Mr. Ebbins took out a needle. Sirius' stomach turned on his friend's behalf, as he knew how much Remus hated needles. But he could tell that his friend was not flinching for Charlie's sake, though he looked away as the needle went in.

Once Mr. Ebbins had recovered enough blood, he emptied the vial into a flask and began to carefully measure out some of the ingredients stewing nearby. After adding them to the flask, the color was a strange shade of dark orange, and it simmered slightly.

"Well, that seems right," Ebbins decided. "Now onto the other test…"

Remus only had a moment to brace himself.

Mr. Ebbins flicked his wand at Remus, and immediately his knees buckled, his hand grabbing the edge of the table to keep up him upright. His scream turned into a roar as he gritted his teeth against the feeling. He felt fire licking through his veins, burning him from the inside out. The pores of his skin burned, and his eyes burned, and the inside of his mouth dried out and tasted of sandpaper.

But he balled his hands into fists and rode the feeling out, not allowing himself to give way to the pain. He did not want Charlie to see that, and he would be damned if he gave Ebbins the satisfaction.

Charlie and Sirius watched in shock as Remus' veins began to glow from the inside. The color was an electric silver, and it shone through his eyes as well. Finally, the light died out, and Sirius rushed to Remus' side, helping his friend to stand back up.

"Sorry for the extra measures," said Ebbins in a voice that held no note of apology, "but we have to be most careful with you. After all, you work in that school full of children. If something were to happen to anyone because you weren't taking your potion, I would feel simply awful…"

Sirius had a good mind to go over to the man and smash the smug look off of his evil face, but he felt Remus' grip tighten on his arm, and looked back at his friend.

"Don't, Sirius," Remus pleaded in a hoarse, soft voice. "I'm used to this by now, it's okay."

And those words hurt him more than hearing his friend cry out in anguish.

"He's not going to do that to Charlie?"

Remus shook his head. "No, he hasn't taken Wolfsbane. And when he does, they'll take a letter from the family and the brewer of the potion as testament. They just felt like grinding the axe with me today."

Mr. Ebbins called out from his desk as he finished Remus' paperwork for the file. "The boy must be tested for Wolfsbane allergies."

Charlie looked to Remus and Sirius fearfully.

"Don't worry," Remus assured him. "He's just going to inject you with some Wolfsbane to make sure that you don't have a bad reaction to it."

Charlie nodded, but he still looked unsure. Mr. Ebbins made his way back to them, and prepared another needle, this time drawing some liquid from a nearby cauldron. He cleaned off Charlie's arm, and jabbed the needle in.

Charlie sucked in a breath. "Do you have to jam it in so hard?"

Remus and Sirius both glanced at each other, impressed at the boy's fight-back instincts. Mr. Ebbins merely snorted in laughter and jammed the needle in further.

Charlie's eyes watered in pain, but he bit his lower lip and glared at the man through the blur. Slowly, Ebbins injected the Wolfsbane into his arm, and when the needle was empty, he withdrew it. After a quick tap with his wand, Charlie's skin was mended, as though the needle had never even pricked the surface.

"You are done," Ebbins announced. "If there is any itching, pain, rash, or discomfort, you must let us know immediately."

Charlie nodded and stood up quickly, clearly just as eager to leave as Sirius and Remus were. They left the Wolfsbane Testing Office, and passed several more checkpoints that merely involving the stamping and adding of forms to their files. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they found themselves at the front desk again.

Remus handed their files to woman still sitting there. "How'd it go?" she asked with a nasty sort of sugary smile.

"Nothing extraordinary to report," Remus bit back just as sweetly.

She tapped the file cabinet behind her and the files flew into their respective drawers. "Come back and visit us again soon."

"Oh, count on it."

The lack of sincerity between them would have been laughable to Sirius if he hadn't known what had gone on in there. He had always heard about this place, but after actually spending a session in there, Sirius couldn't imagine how Remus dealt with these people every year.

"Let's get out of here," he said quietly.

Remus nodded and they led Charlie out of the twin oak doors, and back to his parents.

Charlie's mother embraced him immediately, despite the boy's protests. "Oh, my good boy! How are you? Is everything okay?"

"He's fine Mrs. Walden," Remus assured her. "He was very brave, you should be proud."

"Thank you so much," she said gratefully.

"Yes, thank you," Mr. Walden echoed. "This means a lot to us. We don't know anything about this world, and you and Mr. Black have been a great help."

"It's our pleasure," Remus insisted. He then turned his attention to Charlie. "And I mean what I said, all right? Any time you go here, you just let me know, and I'll be there."

The boy nodded with a smile. "Can I come and visit your school some time?"

Remus grinned. "Yes, I'm sure we can arrange that."

The boy beamed, and his parents thanked Sirius and Remus for another five minutes before finally leading the boy away.

"Can you make it out of here all right?" Sirius called out as they walked toward the lift.

"Certainly," Mr. Walden called back. "Your transportation makes much more sense than ours does. We should have a floo network in my workplace!"

Sirius laughed in return and waved goodbye to them until they were out of sight. Then he turned back to Remus, who was leaning against the wall, looking weak and tired.

"You all right?"

Remus waved him off. "Yes, I just need a minute."

"Thank you for coming today. You have no idea how much it means to him."

"Of course I do, Sirius. Everyone who comes in here the first time wishes that they had come in with someone who knew how to get through it. That place is a maze, and filled with so much red tape, you could swim in it."

Sirius shook his head. "It sure is. I never realized what they put you through in there."

"Let's not talk about it now, Sirius."

Sirius knew that meant that Remus never wanted to talk about it, and he couldn't really blame him for it. "Want to come back to my place for a bit? You look like you could use a drink. And I promise to have you back home before dinner."

The offer was tempting, but Remus knew that Sirius would want to talk about everything that was happening with Clayton and Ivy, and every other damn thing that was wrong in his life. He couldn't handle that right now. "No thanks. I really need to just go home and go to bed. I don't think I can manage anything else today."

Sirius looked disappointed, but he didn't press the matter. "All right. Let's get back to the fireplaces and get the hell out of here."

Remus straightened up. "Now that, I can agree with."

He followed Sirius down the hall to the lift, and counted the seconds until he would be in bed, asleep.

* * *

Later that evening, Sirius was sitting alone in his flat, reading one of those books that he'd always told himself he would read someday. Well, today had seemed as good a day as any, so he finally picked it up. He was on page one hundred fifty-six, when he heard a knock at his door. He was mildly surprised, seeing as he wasn't expecting any company, but he got up, stretched, and walked to the door. 

He was very surprised to find his partner on the other side, carrying quite a load.

"Hi," he said hesitantly.

"Hi."

There was a long pause.

Then Guinevere started up at full speed.

"I figured you'd be home later in the evening today, so I waited until then to talk to you, I just thought it would be better since I knew you'd be over your hangover by then, and you'd probably be feeling better, and I thought that I could – "

"Whoa, slow down, dear Guinevere," Sirius said slowly, hoping that the rate of his speech would calm her down.

It did more than calm her down. It shut her up rather quickly with a nervous laugh. The uncomfortable silence settled again.

"So…" Sirius began. He looked to her for a cue, but she simply stared back curiously. "Er…. I'm really sorry about Friday, and everything I said – "

"No, it was my fault!" Guinevere interrupted, moving like she was going to hold up her hands, and then clumsily shifting as she remembered that she was holding a great deal in her arms. "I was totally impossible, and I deserved everything that you said to me."

"No, you didn't," Sirius insisted. "I was being a right bastard, just like you said."

They stopped again. Sirius noticed her shift the things in her arms this time.

"Do you want to come in here and set that stuff down for a second?"

She nodded thankfully, and he stepped aside, letting her put everything down on the coffee table. She turned around and stuck her hands in her pockets awkwardly. Sirius scratched the back of his neck.

"Er… I don't exactly remember everything that I said to you when I came back…. I was really smashed, so if I said anything – "

"You didn't," Guinevere assured him. "Well, you did say a lot, but nothing mean or anything."

"Right…. And I assume that you were the one who took care of me?"

She shrugged. "It was the least I could do. I just moved you so that you were passed out in a more comfortable position."

"And you cleaned me up…" Sirius' eyes started flickering from one corner of the room to the other, like he was feeling trapped or suffocated.

"Yes," she answered, understanding why he didn't want to talk about it. But even though the subject made him uncomfortable, it didn't change the fact that she had a lot she wanted to say about it. And there was a lot that she wanted him to tell her.

"Sirius, I'm so s – "

"Please," he said, holding up a hand. "Don't."

Her eyes asked him why.

"No one knows about that except you," he said quietly. "Not Harry, or Remus, or Ivy. I never wanted anyone to see that. I don't even wear short sleeves because I don't want them to see the number."

"Sirius, it doesn't matter how you look," she pleaded. "And it doesn't change the fact that you're still very handsome – " she stopped herself, wondering how she was going to get out of that one without looking stupid. He already had his eyebrows raised in amusement. "I mean, lots of women would find you attractive, scars and marks don't make a difference–"

He cut her off by laughing sardonically. "It's not about how it looks," he said carefully. "It's about what it means…. I don't know if you know what the marks on my back are, but–"

"I do," Guinevere said softly.

Sirius nodded. "Well, there you are."

"But Sirius – "

"It not a big deal, Guinevere," he said sharply. "So what if my back looks like it was hand-carved by the devil? I'm the only one who has to live with it. And I can handle that."

"But you shouldn't have had to!" she finally shouted. He stopped short, staring at her. "I don't care what you think of yourself. You never deserved that. But you keep punishing yourself for it, don't you see?"

She walked around behind him and placed a hand against the center of his back. Sirius bolted away from her touch and spun around to face her, a caged look on his face.

She walked behind him again. This time his eyes followed her.

"It's just skin. It's not evil or frightening. But it's painful for you, and that's okay." She slowly rested her palm against his back again. This time, he didn't fly from her touch. "I'm not afraid or disgusted," she said calmly. "No one else will be either."

Sirius took a deep breath. He had always been a tactile person, but human contact was something that he had not received a lot of in the past sixteen years. And though he knew that everything would get awkward very soon, at that moment, he just tried to enjoy the fact that he didn't feel cursed.

Guinevere felt his deep breath under her hand, and felt happiness that she had not anticipated at the fact that she had gotten him to let down a barrier. She suddenly realized what Sorsha had been talking about when she had accused Sirius of having secrets. She had always felt that he showed everything to the world, but now she realized how mistaken she was. Sirius did not show anything to anybody. He did not want anyone to know that his thoughts went deeper. That he could be morbid or melancholy. That he had secrets.

And she had managed to get past some of the shielding. Maybe she would meet the real him someday.

When she noticed that there had been silence for a long while, she finally dropped her hand. Sirius turned around and faced her. His eyes went to the floor.

"Anyway… thanks for what you did."

"Any time."

She thought better of that statement, and raised one finger at him.

"But don't think that I'm going to be the one who drags you out of bars or puts you to bed every time something acts up. I'm not your mother–"

She saw Sirius flinch, and her mind immediately brought up what he'd said about his mother two nights ago. She winced. "Oh, damn, I'm sorry–"

He shook his head, the corners of his mouth tilting upward. "It's okay."

"No, I'm such a klutz about things like that," she said dismayed, as she sagged down on the chair to her right. "I really should just learn to keep my big mouth shut."

He sat down on the couch nearby, his lips finally giving way to a real smile. "Well, I can't deny that if you did, my life would be much easier."

She narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth–

Sirius raised a hand. "Ah-ah. Don't go saying something you'll regret now."

She closed her lips slowly, her mouth shaping into a smile against her will.

Sirius finally looked to all of the things she had piled on his coffee table. "So what's all this?"

Guinevere's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Oh, this…. Well, I remembered how fond you were of that musical artist when we were all younger, and it occurred to me that you've been out of loop about all of that stuff for quite some time. So, with a little help from my brother, I brought some things."

Sirius looked carefully over everything littering the table. "This is all for me?"

Guinevere picked up a few square-ish cases on the table and handed them to him one by one.

"People don't use records anymore, they use CDs, which stands for…" she racked her brain for a moment, and finally came up with, "compact disc. They're smaller than records and can hold more music without you having to flip them over. So I got you some of the old Bowie CDs that you used to listen to, and then some of his newer material that you may not have heard."

Sirius looked over the small stack of CDs that she had handed him. He recognized a few of the covers, but some of them were clearly made after he'd been in prison or while he'd been on the run. He actually hadn't had any music of his own since Lily and James died. This meant more to him than she could possibly realize.

"I got one of Bruce's old CD players and charmed it so that it would run without electricity or batteries. And Bruce added a few CDs that he claimed you needed as well. Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, I think."

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, I remember those guys."

He stared at Guinevere carefully. She began to shift in her chair.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Every time I think that I know where we are, you find some way to surprise me."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"Well… you make things confusing. Every time I think that I know who you are, you change everything on me, and become a different person to me. It's intriguing."

Sirius almost laughed at her word choice. "Intriguing?" She laughed nervously and looked out the window. "Look, Guinevere… can we be… friends?"

Her head snapped back to him, her eyes blinking faster than a hummingbird flaps its wings. She opened her mouth, but no sound would come out.

_Friends? He wants to be friends? If we do, what happens next? What does that mean to Sirius Black?_

_Well, he's good to all of his other friends. They've always seemed to love him very much. Maybe I should stop being worried about what comes next, and just decide to deal with what's happening now. Yes, that's probably the best way to handle it. What do I really want to happen right now?_

"I think that would be… fine."

Sirius nodded. "Good."

After another moments silence, Guinevere stood up and he followed in suit.

"Well, I should probably get going. I have to do some silly paperwork for my brother. He was always rather stupid about filling out things like that."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I won't keep you. But hey–" He waited until she was looking him in the eye. "Thanks for all of this. It really means a lot."

Guinevere waved a hand at him. "Oh, it's nothing really."

She was surprised again when he stepped forward and gave her a hug. She could tell that she was returning it rather awkwardly, but when he let her go, she knew that they were both thinking the same thing – it was a start.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow, then," she said, shocked to find a smile on her face.

"Tomorrow," he repeated, walking her to the door.

She bid him farewell and bounded up the stairs to her flat, feeling inexplicably light.

* * *

Remus thought the day was going to be peaceful. The morning had been particularly uneventful, unless he counted the panic attack one of his students had at facing the boggart in his third year class. He made that a regular part of the lesson plan for his third years, seeing as most of them enjoyed it, and he noticed it allowed them to feel more capable in defense at an earlier age. But one of his smaller boys just could not handle what he thought he was going to see, and started screaming bloody murder. Remus had to remove him from the room while the rest of the class had a wonderful time destroying the thing. 

Remus had tried to get the boy to tell him what he was so afraid he was going to encounter, but the mousy-haired kid had refused to confide in his professor. Then while all of the students were collecting their things, he heard one of the boy's classmates talking to another:

"Andrew is scared to death of werewolves. I think that was why he didn't want to face the boggart and he panicked like that. Probably scared of what Professor Lupin would say."

Remus pretended that he hadn't heard anything and left the classroom as soon as possible. He wasn't upset at the boy for being afraid, he could certainly understand that reaction, but it still stung whenever he learned that someone was afraid of him for that. He wished that Andrew could have at least told him what he was scared of, so that Remus could have calmed his fears.

But instead he was heading down to lunch, hoping that Ivy was eating in her office, as he had no desire to sit through another lunch where she kept staring at him with that superbly hurt expression. Waiting for him to speak, as she picked at her food and made him feel guiltier by the second. Damnit, he had nothing to say!

As he arrived at the Great Hall, however, he heard a rush of feet on the stairwell. Looking up, he saw Minerva, Ivy, Clayton, Snape, and Flitwick come barreling down steps, all looking panicked. Madam Hooch joined them at the foot of the stairs, and Remus tapped her on the shoulder.

"What's going on?"

Ivy heard her husband's voice, and looked to him fearfully. "Remus, I don't think that you should come with us."

Minerva nodded. "Yes, I think it would only exacerbate the situation."

"What situation?" he demanded.

Minerva faltered at the genuine expression of confusion on Remus' face. "We sent all the faculty members notes to let them know. We did it only a few minutes ago."

"Well, I've been walking for a bit. I just finished a class in the kitchens where the boggart was."

"Oh, of course," Minerva started, straightening her glasses on her nose. "Well, the protestors have arrived. They're at the front gates and we must go and speak with them and try to get them to leave. We don't want them to have any contacts with the students."

Remus' mouth gaped open in shock.

"We'll be back shortly, Remus, no need to fret."

"I'm going with you," he finally said, his voice coming out hoarse.

"Remus…" Ivy faltered.

"No, if I don't show up, they'll make it seem like the school is protecting me. I have to talk to them."

"They'll turn anything you do against you, no matter what, Remus," Minerva reasoned. "If you stay here, if you go out and talk to them, they'll find a way to make you look terrible."

"I'm not going to wait inside while their standing out there protesting my existence," Remus said levelly.

He sounded like he was in control. He sounded like their ever-rational, always-in-control Remus Lupin. Minerva looked to Ivy for the decision, but Ivy looked back at her pleadingly. She was his wife first and foremost. She didn't want him to go out there.

So now Minerva had to make the decision that was not based on emotion. And taking everyone's opinions and what had just been said into consideration, she made the choice that she felt was fair.

"Come with us, if you must. But mind what you say."

Ivy bit her lip so hard she tasted salt.

She watched Remus join the group, wishing she'd had the guts to pull rank on him and force him to stay behind. But Minerva was in a better place to judge the situation than she was. She would just have to handle the matter as a professional.

Snape uncannily read her mind. Leaning toward her, he whispered firmly, "Just say what needs to be said to them. Don't make it personal. They will deliberately try to pull down your guard because they know how close you are to all of this."

Ivy nodded in gratitude to the Potions Master. It was times like this that she felt that she was completely incapable of filling Albus' shoes. Minerva and Severus always knew what to do. They should have been running the school. She was just confused, and angry, _and he doesn't talk to me at all, and I don't know what I did wrong, and I just want to world to stop while I figure out why– _

…_Don't make it personal._

She took a deep breath as she stepped outside and continued walking down the path, toward the front gates of the school. As they approached, the sounds of voices shouting rose to greet her ears like a wall of white noise. There were hundreds of them, easily. Ivy moved to the head of the group, and heard the protestors quiet down as they saw her draw near.

One woman stood at the font of the group. She was tall, much taller than Ivy, and her hair was done up in an elegant twist. Nothing else about her was quite as elegant, however. She had a long, pointed nose, bony hands, and her thin mouth curled into a cruel expression of triumph as Ivy stepped up to the gate. Ivy waited for the woman on the other side to begin the exchange.

"Headmistress Dumbledore, I presume?" she said in a drawl that ended each phrase in a high, grating tone.

"Yes, I am the Headmistress," Ivy stated blandly, staring up at the woman with appropriate control and steadiness.

"My name is Cynthia Dammers, Headmistress. I have come here with my many supporters to demand – "

"You are in no position to demand anything," Ivy said shortly. She then calmed her voice, making sure that she was coming off as hot-and-cold as the woman standing on front of her. "I have come out, however, to request that your party leave this area immediately."

"We are not breaking the law, my dear," Ms. Dammers answered with a nasty smile. "We have the right to protest anywhere we choose."

"No one is denying that," Ivy assured her. "It would simply be appreciated, as your presence will distract the students from doing their work."

Ms. Dammers tilted her head to the side, her smile growing like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. She used her wand to charm her voice, so that she could be heard clear across the grounds.

"What's the matter, Headmistress? Are you afraid that the children will learn the truth about the monster that you are keeping holed up in your school?"

The crowd began to shout in agreement, raising up various signs that they had crafted, sporting words like "non-human", "beast", and "damned".

Ivy heard him before she saw him. He was at her back, taking careful steps forward.

"If you have something to say about the 'monster', he would appreciate it if you would direct it at him, instead of harassing the Hogwarts community."

Remus' head was held high, his shoulders squared, his voice, thankfully, calm. Ivy didn't know how he was managing it, but she stepped aside to let him talk. He clearly thought this was his fight, and she wasn't going to speak for him when he had something to say for himself.

Ms. Dammers looked positively delighted. She had probably been waiting for the chance to talk to a real werewolf during a protest since these demonstrations had started. Christmas had come early.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin. I'm surprised to see you out here."

Remus' face betrayed no emotion whatsoever. He merely looked unimpressed. "Really? Why's that?"

"Well, surely the fact that everyone on this side of the gate would like to see you branded, jailed, or dead, it certainly must unnerve you."

Remus was well aware that he was being baited, and that nothing he said would make this situation turn out for his benefit. But he had to make sure that she knew that he wasn't afraid of her. No matter how many followers she brought to the gate. "Actually, I'm quite surprised that you haven't brought a lynching party. I thought you'd be a bit more organized than that."

Ms. Dammers sickening smile faltered ever so slightly. She quickly regained her composure.

"Please, tell us all what you do here, Mr. Lupin. I so long to hear your job description."

Remus shook his head, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards in a small smile. Ivy had a brief moment to wonder what kind of a poker player her husband would make. "Ah-ah, Ms. Dammers. You know perfectly well what I do here. I think we're wasting time, and that's something that neither one of us can afford to do."

"I know _you_ can't, Mr. Lupin," Ms. Dammers answered back venomously. "Once I've let everyone know what you are teaching the children of Hogwarts, you won't have time to pack the clothes on your back, they'll throw you out so fast."

Remus feigned youthful ignorance at her threat. "And what exactly am I teaching, Ms. Dammers?"

She looked like she wanted to start preaching her protest sermon, but she held out a little longer, excited at the exchange she was participating in.

"You teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, do you not?"

"Until someone tells me I don't anymore, Ms. Dammers. Or until I retire."

"And that would mean that you teach the students defense against you, wouldn't it?"

"It does, Ms. Dammers," Remus answered evenly.

She cracked her bony fingers one at a time as she spoke. "And it doesn't bother you that you have to teach these children how to defend themselves against you?"

Remus' spine stiffened briefly. He was having an alarming sense of deja-vu. This seemed to be the question of the year. "No, it doesn't concern me in the slightest."

"And at what time do you teach them this defense?"

"I cover the basics in their third year, and then go over it in more detail for the fifth years."

"You must love those first two years when they don't know the difference, don't you, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus narrowed his eyes. "I don't quite follow you."

"Get them while their young, isn't that what they say?" Ms. Dammers began. Her voice was rising in pitch as she began to engage the crowd. She was ready to start the riot now.

"Isn't it true that you're teaching these children all sorts of dark magic, all the while making them think that they're only learning defense?"

Remus was shocked by that accusation, but showing that would do him no good, so he tried his best to continue speaking calmly. "I don't know any dark magic, Ms. Dammers. And I would certainly never allow it in this school."

"Really? Then it isn't true that all of your students come out of your classroom with all the knowledge of the Dark Arts that only a werewolf could provide? All the dark magic that is hidden within you from the moment you receive your bite?"

Remus had never heard a more ridiculous theory in all his life, but the crowd was buying it hook, line, and sinker. They screamed and chanted and even started pressing up against the gate. He felt Ivy's arm on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off. Never mind that he didn't want to talk to her, having her herding him away would certainly not look good for the school when this little incident appeared in the Daily Prophet tomorrow.

"Tell the truth, Remus Lupin! Tell the world what you are doing to these children! Leave this place at once, and stop corrupting the youth of tomorrow, you soldier for the devil!"

The crowd was going crazy, and now Severus and Madam Hooch were both at Remus' arm, attempting to pull him back from the din. Remus firmly stood his ground, though, refusing to move an inch while this chaos continued.

And then, suddenly, a voice broke out over the crowd, over Ms. Dammers' outraged preaching, even over the blood pounding in Remus' ears.

"All right everyone! Show's over, it's time to _calm down_."

Everyone was so startled by the voice that they paused, trying to determine where it came from. Slowly, a path parted down the center of the protestors all the way to the front gate. Remus saw a head of black hair approaching.

A woman's voice was now rising up to join the other. "All right everyone. It's time to leave. These children have to get back to their classes, and if you won't let them, we will get Magical Law Enforcement down here. Just look where I'm pointing and exit the area that way."

Sirius strode up to the front gates, and watched Ms. Dammers sputter with rage at his diffusion tactics.

"You cannot tell us to break up this protest! We are allowed to be here by law!"

Sirius smiled graciously. "Well, then you didn't read the law book very carefully, sweetheart. That applies for all areas of the wizarding world _except_ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here you're only allowed to protest for a total of six hours, preferably when classes aren't going on. And since you and your group got here 'round six in the morning, I'd say you wore out your welcome a while ago."

"But we weren't protesting until half an hour ago!" Ms. Dammers shrieked.

"Well then, you should organize more quickly," Sirius said amiably, wicked Marauder grin in place. He turned to the confused crowd. "In the mean time, PACK IT UP AND MOVE IT OUT!"

"Yes, this way everyone…" Guinevere was standing at the back on top of a large rock, directing traffic to avoid a rush. "Careful now, don't trample each other, no one's in a hurry. That's it, very good."

Ms. Dammers gathered all of her protest items and stuffed them into a large carpetbag. She turned to glare at Ivy, Remus, and Sirius. "You haven't seen the last of us, Mr. Lupin!" she shouted. "We will have you on the streets soon, mark my words! Back where you belong!"

Remus waved to her innocently, which only made her storm off in a great huff. Sirius turned to him, an impish glint in his eye. Remus managed to smile back.

"Six hours? Only at Hogwarts? That was good, Sirius, very good."

Sirius shrugged. "I didn't actually expect her to buy it, I assumed she'd have more political knowledge than that if she were a protest leader. But I think she saw the Ministry insignia on Guinevere's robe and flipped. Guinevere's said she knew that robe had to be good for something, looks like she was right. I would have come up with something more convincing, but we only got the owl from Ivy a little while ago and it sounded urgent."

Ivy had silently undone the wards around the gate and opened it to let Sirius in. When it swung back, she rushed to him and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Thank you! I was so worried about what would happen if we couldn't get them to leave."

Sirius rubbed her back soothingly. "Well, relax. They're all gone for now. Your Big Brother made all the nasty people go away."

Ivy laughed softly, sounding rather frail if Remus had allowed himself to admit it. Soon Guinevere came up to join the group.

"Everything all right?" she questioned, looking at Ivy with a concerned expression.

Sirius nodded gently. "Yeah, I think we're all right here now. You got them all out of here pretty quick."

Guinevere shrugged. "I spent a summer directing cattle on my uncle's farm. People aren't much different."

Sirius snorted in response, highly amused by the thought of someone as slight as Guinevere directing large herds of cows. "Well, if everything's okay here, I think we should probably get back to the office."

Guinevere stopped him. "We don't have to. Codger gave us the rest of the day to keep an eye on this place."

Sirius paused. "Oh. Well then… who's for tea in the kitchens?"

Most of the staff and Guinevere raised their hands, and they all started parading up to the front doors. Ivy secured the gate behind them and turned around to look for Remus. But she couldn't spot him.

He had disappeared on her again.

* * *

Sirius and Guinevere were friends. 

It was a slow friendship to be sure, and they still weren't exactly used to the idea, but they were both trying very hard. And that was saying a lot considering how horribly they had been treating each other since… well, since they were eleven.

So Sirius had decided that he would go with Guinevere to the grocery store. This was partly due to the fact that he remembered her saying that she got claustrophobic there sometimes, and also due to the fact that she said she wanted him to tell her what he would like for dinner on Friday. Sirius couldn't very well think of that without food directly in front of him, so she decided that it would be okay for him to join her just this once, provided that he didn't make a nuisance of himself.

They were walking down the aisle with pastas and marinara sauce. Guinevere stopped at one of the shelves and tsked.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"They're out of my favorite brand of pasta in linguine," she sighed.

Sirius did not understand why this was such a problem. "So just get a different brand."

She shook her head at his ignorance. "I use that brand for a reason. It cooks the best and the flavor goes well with the lemon and white wine sauce that I make."

"In my experience, pasta tastes like pasta."

"Well, maybe after spending more time in my kitchen you will come to understand the subtle differences in the great pasta hierarchy," she teased stiffly.

Sirius smiled at her rocky try at humor. She was doing rather well at being personable, she just needed to loosen up.

"Well, if you can't use another brand, then why not do the same brand and use spaghetti? Or those," he suggested, pointing to a box of twisted pasta.

Guinevere smirked.

"What?"

She shrugged. "It's just my experience that only children usually like that kind of pasta."

Sirius shot her a mock-offended look. "Oh, so now I'm childish for liking pasta of an odd shape?"

Guinevere stared coyly at the ceiling. "Not, necessarily, it's just amusing, that's all. And it says a lot about you, you know."

Sirius raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "Such as?"

Guinevere continued to glance upward, her torso shaking with laughter that was dying to get out. "Well, I like linguine because it has a smooth texture, it's easy on the palate. Most of what we like about food has a great deal to do with the texture. It's just… telling that you happen to like one of the various types that are more rough and uneven."

Sirius was not going to take that lying down. Reaching over the cart, he grabbed a box of the pasta off the shelf and dropped it into the cart. "Well, I suppose that you'll learn to like the rough sort too." He could already see the look forming on her face as he stepped behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and pushed her forward, the cart going with her. "On we go, then."

"Just a minute!" she scolded. She shoved her weight back, causing Sirius' hands to slip from her shoulders. They landed on either side of her, on the shopping cart bar that she was holding onto as well. Her back was now shoved up against his chest, his arms holding her trapped at the back of the cart.

Guinevere didn't notice this, and proceeded to take a box of fettuccini off of the shelf. She didn't put the other box of pasta back, however, much to his amusement.

"There," she stated, tossing her box into the cart. "I wasn't done with the pasta. You can't just be ridiculously crude and then also prevent me from getting the proper groceries."

"Oh, forgive me," Sirius hummed.

She went to push the cart forward, but his hands were still on the bar, keeping it firmly in place. It was then that Guinevere noticed how close they were. And to her credit, she did not slap him, have a panic attack, or scream at him and run off in a huff. She merely turned her head back to glance at him, looking defiantly unfazed.

"Are you quite through?" she snapped reproachfully.

"Oh, quite," Sirius replied with a grin, releasing the cart and letting her continue, as he strolled at the back.

They eventually wound their way back to the produce section, as Guinevere had wanted to get more fruit than she had originally considered. Sirius was looking through the various kinds of apples, and getting upset that his favorites were not in season yet. He walked up behind Guinevere with one apple in hand and started talking to her back while she checked boxes of raspberries for mold.

"Do you think that Braeburn apples might taste close to Macintosh?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You're positive?"

"Yes Sirius, very positive."

"Well, why don't they have any good apples?"

Guinevere was about to respond when another voice chimed in.

"Guinevere?"

Sirius and Guinevere both looked up to see a woman that Sirius recognized. He couldn't place her face, though, at least not until –

"Sylvia?" Guinevere called out uncomfortably. The other woman rolled her cart closer, though she was rather slow, and seemed to be waddling. Sirius looked down and noticed that the woman was pregnant.

"Sylvia…" he echoed. "Oh, Sylvia! You were in our house, our year."

Sylvia rolled her eyes in good humor. "I'm flattered you remember, Sirius."

Sirius could already sense something very out of place. Guinevere was standing stiff as stone. He moved from behind her to her side, and saw that her eyes had taken on a glazed sheen.

"So you're…?" Guinevere's voice died out on her as she looked at Sylvia's swollen belly.

The blond-haired woman smiled and looked down as well. "Yeah, I can't believe it myself. It took a while, but I finally got him to do it. He's due in a month, isn't it amazing?"

Sirius was trying to put the pieces together. He remembered Sylvia now. She had been one of Guinevere's best friends, an unusual pair, as there were not normally good friendships that existed across houses at school. But they were clearly not friends anymore, not with the way that Guinevere was standing, not with that numbed look on her face.

"Are you still with…?" came the next hoarse question.

In answer, Sylvia began to look around. When she spotted what she was looking for, she called out, "Alec! Alec, come over here!"

A man approached Sylvia. He was rather handsome, tall with sky blue eyes and a rugged five o'clock shadow. His brown hair was cropped short, his clothes fitted, and his shoulders square and strong.

When he spotted Guinevere, however, he did not look so happy.

"Look who I found!" Sylvia said cheerfully.

"Allo, Guinevere," came the strong accent that sounded almost French, but not quite. "'Ow are you?"

"Oh, fine," Guinevere responded dazedly, looking back and forth between the two of them, and then down at the unborn baby.

All the gears in Sirius' head clicked. He suddenly remembered with surprising clarity, everything that Bruce had said to him a few weeks back –

_Got married when she was twenty-five. Guy named Alec. He was a foreigner.- _

_I never liked him much. He had some accent. French or Italian or something.- _

_He started blaming her for things. Claimed that she wasn't emotionally ready to be a wife, started staying away from the house. It went on for a few _years _like that.- _

_Finally, he tells her that he's found someone who 'understands him' and runs off. She finds out later that it was a friend of hers from school.- _

Sirius felt his spine stiffen to match Guinevere's posture. He had to think of something to do. He couldn't let her face this alone.

He let his instincts take control, and lifted a hand up to Guinevere's back. She didn't seem to notice, which Sirius felt was probably a good thing. He smiled at the couple in front of him, and started talking for her.

"Well, Sylvia, we haven't seen you around here for a few years, I'm sure. What puts you back in the neighborhood?"

Sylvia smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes. Sirius had a funny feeling that she did that subconsciously to every man she talked to.

"Well, we'd been living near Alec's family up in Switzerland, but when I got pregnant, I knew that I had to be close to my mother. So I told Alec that we had to move back here and he said okay."

Sirius smiled warmly with ice in his eyes. "That easy, was it? So nice when men are accommodating like that."

Alec clearly didn't like the way Sirius' expression matched what he said. "I'm zorry, you are-?"

Sirius leaned forward to shake his hand. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sirius Black."

Alec's eyes widened. "Ze one from Azkeban? Ze one 'oo Guinevere 'ated zo much as a child?"

Sirius never let his buoyancy falter. "Yes, that Sirius Black. I'm pretty sure there's only one of me."

Sylvia gaped at him for a moment. "And now you're her–"

"Boyfriend," Sirius quickly finished, before Guinevere could say "partner" and ruin the delicate house of cards he was building. "Or love slave, whichever you prefer."

Guinevere side-glanced him with a slow look of incredulity and shock, but she was too numbed by the people in front of her to sharply put him back in his place. He was grateful – this was for her own good. He snaked his arm around her waist, and pulled her to him.

Sylvia was having a problem with the charade, however. "Boyfriend? But she hated you in school!"

Sirius grinned disarmingly. "Yeah, but you know what they say about opposites attracting and all that ridiculous preachy garbage. Seems some of it must be true because we met again this year after all that time, and something just clicked. I can barely keep my hands off her."

He turned her to face him, pulling her focus to his face, rather than the two other people nearby. "Right, darling?" he cooed.

He was overdoing it, but really he wanted Sylvia and Alec to leave more than anything, and he knew if he made them uncomfortable they would want to go. So, against his better judgment, and knowing that he was probably about to get smacked, he lowered his lips to Guinevere's neck and started brushing over the pale skin. When the slap didn't come, he moved his hands to close around her back tightly, pulling her closer to him.

Guinevere was frozen in shock, and he knew that wasn't going to help them convince anybody. So he nipped at her throat with his teeth.

That did it. Guinevere reacted.

She started laughing hysterically.

She was laughing so hysterically, in fact, that Sirius had to pull back from her neck. Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes as she grabbed hold of both his arms and started guffawing into his chest.

He gave the only proper reaction that he could in the given situation. He smiled.

"God, I love this woman," he said good-naturedly, turning back to Sylvia and Guinevere's ex-husband. "I start feeling her up in the middle of the grocery story, and she can't stop laughing! Isn't she fabulous?"

Sylvia and Alec did not seem to know what to do, and were staring back with stunned expressions. Guinevere was still in stitches, her head buried in Sirius' shirt. He grabbed the cart and steered it with one hand, leading Guinevere with the other hand on her back.

"So long, folks! We have to get these groceries out of here before they spoil. Good luck to you both, and congratulations! I hope you have a healthy baby piranha, or whatever they're called."

Once they were out of sight, Sirius stopped and looked down at Guinevere. She was still laughing uncontrollably, and Sirius knew that it wasn't just because she thought his behavior was amusing. He grabbed her by the hand. "All right, you, come with me."

Leaving the shopping cart behind, he dragged Guinevere outside and pulled her to side of the building, out of sight of the passersby. Standing in front of her, and holding her shoulders so she didn't loose her balance, Sirius tried to talk her down.

"Easy, you. Deep breaths. That's it, Gwen, deep breaths."

Sure enough, her laughter started to die down, and Sirius started having trouble telling if she was laughing or crying. It was probably both. When she was finally capable of being silent for more than two seconds at a time, he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. She stared quietly at him for a moment.

Then, without warning, she laced her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled his head down until his forehead was resting against hers.

"Thank you," she whispered desperately after a long moment of silence.

"Welcome," he replied with a small smile. "And if I did anything back there that was way out of line, you have full permission to beat me up a little."

She tried her best to smile back. "No, you saved me in there. I don't know what I would have said to them."

"No one would have," Sirius assured her.

"You did," she said softly, finally releasing him. She let one hand travel down to his arm, still not ready to break contact.

"You want to go back in for your groceries?" Sirius asked after another long silence.

She shook her head. "I don't want to go back in there right now."

Sirius thought for a bit. "Well, how's this? Remus and Ivy are going shopping for various things tomorrow in Hogsmeade. Clothes, supplies and the like. We could go with them, and then afterwards we could come back here and get your groceries."

Guinevere didn't look so sure.

"Come on, you'll enjoy yourself," Sirius insisted. "Ivy always makes everyone feel better."

"Except her husband," Guinevere said quietly, staring at the ground.

Sirius winced at that. He knew that Ivy would be truly hurt to know that the problems she was having with Remus were so easily visible to a casual observer. Then again, Guinevere was a very attentive person, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She probably noticed more than anyone realized.

"They're having some problems right now," he tried to explain. "It's all because of the American bloke they've got running around, and the protestors. But we should go with them tomorrow. It would be good for Remus too, in case he runs into protestors out here."

Guinevere nodded mutely. "But let's go home now. I need a hot bath."

Sirius nodded. "Sounds good. And we'll meet up tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

They stared at each other for another moment, and then vanished from sight.

* * *

There we are, folks! I hope that was to your liking. As you can see, the plot is thickening, and there are twists and turns around every corner. But don't worry - you're in for a little happiness next chapter. Please review! I don't know why I keep saying that - you guys are really wonderful about that. I'm so grateful to have a group of such dedicated readers, you are all fabulous. Siriusly. And no, I did not just make that joke. Well, maybe I did... 


	9. Mourning, Fighting, and Reconciliation

Disclaimer: you know the deal.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I apologize for missing the month mark. I got all my wisdom teeth pulled and then I got sick. Yes, it sucked a lot. And it hurt like a bitch. But I'm all better now! So now you get a special chapter...

I should warn you that the flashback section in this isn't happy. But, as I promised, Remus and Ivy are going to be okay! And all will become clear in this chapter, regarding that. So stop worrying! Gosh, you guys should know me well enough by now to know that I don't do unhappy endings. :)

**Again with the warning, just to be clear:** This chapter is rated NC-17 for _graphic sexual content_. It is not violent. Just lots of sex. If that's not your cup of tea, just skip over it when you come to it. You all know what you can handle. This is the first time I've ever posted anything this graphic, so bear with me. If it seems silly at times that's because we all know that sex is silly. Crazy, harsh, madly over-kinky sex doesn't happen incredibly often, especially not with _these two_... +smirk+

Thanks to all of you who reviewed, as always. You guys are fabulous. I believe I responded to everyone who wanted responding to. If I didn't, feel free to smack me and remind me. It looks like we lost some people, though... I hope that no one's mad at me... +is sheepish+

Anyway, here you are!

* * *

_**Chapter Nine – Mourning, Fighting, and Reconciliation**_

**THEN**

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

The sermon was given, but he didn't hear it. Nor could he hear the many people who got up to speak about the young man. No doubt the stories were amusing and moving. No doubt they were making everyone laugh and cry, but he couldn't hear any of that. He couldn't hear the sounds of sobbing or the little children shuffling their feet and wondering when lunch was.

He saw the coffin get lowered into the ground. He saw her crying. He saw the traitors who dared to stand over the tombstone like they were truly sorry. He saw the sky get greyer and greyer, threatening to break open and pound the realization of death into them with sheets of rainwater.

He felt those behind him. He felt their grief at seeing him like this. He felt the end of their childhood, no matter how happy he acted, how joyfully he played. It was over.

His brother was dead.

And they hadn't spoken since he was sixteen.

He watched as the people began to disperse, some Apparating away, some walking to the edge of the cemetery before leaving. He watched an old dog wander among the graves, and wondered if the animal slept there every night. He watched the grave diggers fill in the deep hole in the ground where the coffin would remain.

He kept expecting him to jump out. To jump out and laugh that it had all been a joke, and wasn't it funny, and oh how he'd really gotten his big brother that time. He was waiting with a fist for his shoulder, and a good shout for his ear, and an arm to wrap around him as he led him away so they could have a talk and figure out a way to still be family despite all the bullshit.

But it never happened. He didn't jump up and laugh at the joke. There was no more time to talk. Never again.

So Sirius stood with his shoulder up against a tree and his arms folded, wearing his best black robes and a tragic frown, as the gravediggers filled the hole beneath a tombstone marked: REGULUS BLACK.

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius? Shouldn't we get out of here?"

Sirius did not turn back to the spectacled face that he knew was behind him. "No, James. I want to wait until they're done filling in the grave. Then I can go over and pay my respects proper."

"All right. Do you want us to leave?"

He certainly did. He wanted them to leave more than anything in the world. He didn't want them to be there and see him suffer. James and Lily had only gotten married a few months ago. This was a happy time, and he had no right to stain that for any of them. Not for James, Lily, not even for Peter and Ivy, and certainly not for Remus, who couldn't hold a job for more than a month lately.

But some weak part of him knew that if they didn't stay, he would never leave. That he would curl up by that tombstone and sleep out under the stars, like that old dog wandering nearby. And they would worry, and go looking for him, and find him there. And that would be worse.

"Could you stay with me a while? I won't be much longer."

"Of course."

Sirius waited patiently until the earth was patted down and the gravediggers had left. He walked slowly toward the tombstone knowing that the closer he got, the more this moment would become imbedded in his brain. But his legs moved of their own accord and he wouldn't back out now. When he reached the marble slab, he crouched down in front of it and stared.

He picked up some of the earth from the mound next to him. He had heard of people doing that in books, seen it in films. He thought maybe they did it because it made them feel better, and hoped that it would do the same for him. It didn't. All it did was ground him in the terrible reality that he would never see his little brother get married, or be uncle to his children, or have him over for Christmas dinner.

He had always hoped that they might do that some day. Maybe after their parents had died.

He felt James and Lily standing at his back, and knew that Peter, Ivy, and Remus were only a few paces back. They wanted him to leave this place, and he knew that he would. He just needed a minute. Just one minute to let everything settle in his mind.

"TRAITOR!"

How he hadn't seen that coming, he would never know.

She had Apparated back. He never got the chance to ask whether she had seen him standing by the tree, or if she had just suspected he would show up.

Her eyes were bulging out of her head, her black veil flying off her hair. His father watched from behind her, quite impassively. This was not his fight, he could care less about Sirius. The only one that mattered was now resting six feet below them.

"You get away from here! Shaming his name! Shaming our family! I'll have you cursed for this, you lowlife, bottom-feeding, parasite! Traitor of my flesh!"

"Everyone's gone now, mother," Sirius said tiredly. "They won't see me or know that we're related anymore. I just came to say goodbye."

Her nostrils flared, though her eyes lit at the weakness he had shown. "Oh, yes, it hurts now, doesn't it? You abandoned him and now you feel sorry. You're too late, you little monster!"

James stepped forward and stood at Sirius' side. "There's no need for this, Mrs. Black," he said softly. "Sirius won't be here much longer, he just came to pay his respects."

"Respects!" she shrieked. "You're one to talk of respect! You and your parents keeping this little leech with you after he betrays his family! You're a shame to the pureblood community! Marrying that mudblood!"

But James could not be affected by anything that Mrs. Black had to say. Her words meant nothing to him, never had. And so his temper didn't flare, his eyes didn't flash, and he stood still and straight at the attack.

It mattered to Sirius.

"That 'mudblood' has more power in her pinky finger than the whole of our family!" Sirius shouted. "And if you hadn't filled Regulus' head with such pureblood nonsense, he'd be alive right now!"

Mrs. Black screeched in rage and rushed toward her son, hands outstretched like she meant to strangle him.

Without considering his next move, Sirius' wand was out of his pocket. His hand grabbed the front of her robes as she crashed into him, pointing the tip of his wand at her cheek.

"You don't get to do that anymore," he hissed. "I'm not a child any longer. If you ever touch me again, I will curse our family so that every one of them marries mudbloods and traitors. And then you'll have to reconcile belonging to The Ignoble and Most Ancient House of Black."

Mrs. Black's eyes widened in terror, and she staggered back from Sirius as if he were diseased.

"Get out of here!" she shrieked once more. "You have no right to be here!"

Sirius glared at her, weighing the pros and cons of hexing her silent. But a hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked back over it to find a pair of grey eyes.

"She's not worth it, Sirius," Remus gentled, seeming to read his friend's mind. "Let's go. You won't find anything here to bring you peace right now."

Sirius nodded carefully and followed James and Remus as they both turned to leave. As they got further away, he heard his mother start up again.

"Look at your company! Mudbloods, traitors, monsters! You're all marked for death, all of you! Regulus knew! He knew you were all doomed! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming for you! You're all next!"

Sirius stumbled on the uneven ground, and he felt James grab hold of him to keep him standing. He turned to the woman next to him. "Lily?"

She gave him a knowing look and glanced sadly at Sirius. "I'll see you when you get home."

Before Sirius knew what was happening, he felt James grasp him tightly and the world around him lurch. After a moment he was standing with James and Remus in front of their favorite pub.

Remus glanced around. "Where's Peter?"

James shrugged. "Some family business to take care of, I suppose. He said his aunt was in town." He looked back to his very pale, black-haired friend. "You all right?"

Sirius shook his head in sardonic amusement, staring at the ground. "She always gets the last word…"

"It doesn't matter," James said firmly. "You stood up to her. I've never seen you like that with her, and I was really proud of you for doing that. You held your ground, and she was more than a little shaken by it. So damn the last word. You've still beaten her. Hell, you've always beaten her. She just never knew it until today. Now, let's get a drink."

Sirius nodded gradually, and let James lead him into the pub. Remus had a brief moment of confusion before he went after them.

_I thought that the only aunt Peter had died last year…_

He shrugged the thought off and followed James and Sirius inside.

**NOW**

"Sirius, we have to go!"

He looked up from the long file on his desk and turned back to see Guinevere in the doorway.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly noticing that she was panicked, and worried about what that could mean.

"It's Sorsha. I don't know all the details, but Codger says it's bad. If we don't get over there soon, Magical Law Enforcement and the Werewolf Capture Unit are going to take her down."

"Shit," Sirius hissed, more to himself than anyone. He sprung to his feet, grabbed his jacket and quickly Apparated with Guinevere to the front of the shed where they had planned to check up on Sorsha in a few days.

There was a containment field around the shack, and officers posed all around, ready to ward off any muggles who happened to be curious. Magical Law Enforcement had the shed surrounded, wands at the ready. The Werewolf Capture Unit was waiting outside the door, a special barred cage ready to hold Sorsha when they finally got her out. It looked like it was meant to hold a wolf rather than a human being.

Sirius and Guinevere had appeared at the gates and they both rushed up to the officers, showing them proper identification and demanding to know what was going on.

One stout man with a large scar on his cheek – the captain of the Capture Unit, Sirius guessed – walked over to them, looking very irritated.

"We got a live one in there. She's coming with us."

"We're her case workers," Guinevere said diplomatically. "We must be allowed to speak with her before you do anything."

"You'll do no such thing," the captain warned sternly.

"Look, sir," Sirius began, trying to sound like he actually had some respect for the man. "There's no need to get up in arms about this. Now, the girl in there is scared and probably very paranoid right about now. But she knows the two of us. She'll listen to us. If you want to get her out of there peacefully, you'll let us go in."

The captain looked at him suspiciously. It was clear that he did not view her as a 'girl' the way Sirius did. To him, Sorsha was a danger, a threat. He probably would call her a monster too, just like the rest. These men were not known for their warm, compassionate hearts. "No funny business."

Sirius shook his head, shielding his eyes against the intense afternoon sun. "None."

The captain stepped back and told his men to clear the doorway. Sirius and Guinevere came forward and opened the door, crossing the threshold into the shack. Sirius lit his wand to get his bearings, and searched the room.

"Sorsha?" he called. "Sorsha, we need to talk with you. It's looks like you're in a bit of a jam here."

There was silence for a long time. Then –

"I thought you said that you would help me."

Sirius shut his eyes against unspoken accusation. "Sorsha, you got yourself into a mess, but we don't know what happened. And I definitely can't help you if you won't tell me what's happened. Please come down and talk to us."

And then the voice was at his back. "I could kill you right now. It wouldn't even be hard."

"You won't," came Sirius' sure response.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the only friend you've got here."

"I don't have friends. I don't need friends."

Sirius turned around to face her. She looked even more ill than she had the last time he'd seen her. "You need one right now."

She eyed him carefully, studying his face, his posture. She leaned forward and sniffed. "Old blood."

Sirius nodded. "Old wound."

"That's too bad," she said flippantly. "Did you reopen it yourself?"

Sirius raised an unaffected eyebrow. "No, I'm not that morbidly self-deprecating."

"You don't have to be self-deprecating," she snarled back. "Sometimes it's good to remember your pain."

"Oh, that's good. You should have that engraved on plaques. You could sell them to disaffected youths around the world."

"I don't like sarcasm or stupid men who meddle."

He folded his arms across his chest. "All right, I'll be sure not to bring any around."

"…You're not funny."

"Then why are you smiling?"

Guinevere cleared her throat and shot Sirius a prompting look. He sighed. "Tell me what happened."

Sorsha looked over to the boarded up window as if she could see through it. "Neighbors are mean and nasty. Said they were going to bring protestors and have me locked up if I was near them. They're two miles away and I've never bothered them. But they don't like me. So I made sure that I was out when the moon was full last night. I ate their dog."

She smiled viciously. "And when the father came here to yell at me, I asked him if he'd still keep his son after I bit him next month. If he'd still want a monster child, marked by the devil. Then he called all the people over."

Guinevere groaned softly in dismay.

Sirius exhaled sharply. "That wasn't smart of you, Sorsha."

She shook her head in agreement. "But it felt good. It felt real. No more running, and hiding, and acting like I'm afraid of them. We're all damned now anyway. The big groups of people with their signs – they're coming for all of us. And no one will stop them because they never liked us anyway. No one is our friend."

Sirius looked to Guinevere. "Can they really put her away for this? She didn't hurt anyone. Just the family dog, and they provoked her into it."

Guinevere nodded frustratedly. "They always find a way to make it stick. People are so paranoid, all someone has to say at a Ministry hearing is 'vicious intent' and they lock a werewolf up without second thought. To say the least of Sorsha, who has a history of violent behavior."

"What can we do?"

Guinevere bit her lip. "We have to bring her out there, we promised. We can't make our agency look bad, or they'll never let us work with any of them again. We can make sure that she's treated well, and try to get her a fair trial."

Sirius looked to Sorsha. The girl raised her arms up, her wrists crossed like she was ready to be bound up. "Lead the way. The end is near anyway. They'll lock me up and feed me cat food. And others like me will be there to watch what they do."

Sirius wasn't sure that she was thinking at all, let alone clearly, but he had to get her out of there before the people outside got panicky. So he took Sorsha by the arm and led her gently out, Guinevere following behind them.

The captain of the Capture Unit quickly wrenched her away from Sirius and had his men push her into the cage.

"That was smooth," the captain mused.

But as soon as the door locked, Sorsha started screaming. Screaming as though she had an infinite supply of air and never needed to stop. Her expression was terrified, and her hands clawed at the bars desperately.

"Wait – " Sirius shouted.

The captain put a hand up to stop him. "We've dealt with that tactic before. They act like they're going crazy, and as soon as we let them out, they vanish."

"But she's not a witch," Sirius pleaded. "She can't Apparate away."

"You do your job and I'll do mine," the stocky man growled, before turning away and ordering everyone to pack up.

"Don't vanish!" Sorsha screamed back, her wild eyes landing on Sirius.

"You'll see me soon, I promise!" he called back.

And then everyone was gone. They disappeared, the containment field evaporated, and the world became very quiet.

Sirius stared out at the scene, marveling at how helpless he felt on such a bright, sunny day. Guinevere arrived at his side, her eyes following the same path that his did.

"That wasn't your fault," she said steadily. "There was nothing we could do for her."

He nodded. "Doesn't make it any better."

"I know."

They didn't speak for a long time. Finally, Guinevere straightened up and turned to him.

"Go home, Sirius. You look tired. I can cover for you at work."

He shook his head. "I know what happens when I go home. I get to wallow in everything. I don't want to wallow."

"Then come back to the office, and we can go over some new case files."

"All right. But only if you promise to stop looking at me like you think that I'm about to have a nervous breakdown."

She smiled. "Deal."

* * *

Sirius and Guinevere had met Remus and Ivy in Hogsmeade on Saturday by Honeydukes. Naturally, all the students were about as this was one of their trip days, and Ivy and Remus were acting as temporary chaperones until Minerva relieved them of their duties and told them to have a lovely afternoon. 

Sirius was a little upset. He had hoped that this would be fun for Guinevere, but with Remus and Ivy practically incapable of speaking more than two words to each other at a time, no one seemed to be having a good time at all. Still, Sirius' irritation was outweighed by the fact that he was worried about his friends, and wanted to know why they looked like they were on the verge of separation.

So at the moment, Ivy was picking up robes from the clothing store nearby, and trying to get Guinevere to try on some fun clothes. Guinevere was completely mortified and refused to try anything on that would show her figure, much to Ivy's dismay and Sirius' amusement. Remus was staring out the window silently.

Sirius walked over to him. "Are you going to talk to anyone today? Because I was unaware that you were mad at me too, or Guinevere for that matter."

Remus blinked a few times before glancing back at Sirius. "Oh, er, I'm fine. I'm just not feeling very outgoing today."

"Outgoing? I'd say this is a bit beyond 'not outgoing'. I'd say you look damn depressed."

"I'm not really interested in your opinion on the matter, Sirius."

Sirius raised his hands defensively. "Oh, so you _are_ mad at everyone today. That's fine, I just wanted to know."

Remus did not attempt to defend himself. He went back to staring out the window. Sirius snorted angrily and walked back over to the dressing rooms, where Ivy was trying to coax Guinevere out so she could see some of the clothes she had told her to try on.

"Come on, Guinevere! No one's going to freak out about it."

"This skirt is too short! I can feel a lot of air, and that's not supposed to happen!"

"That's because you're not used to it," Ivy insisted. "The skirt's not that short – it's not even mid-thigh."

"Ivy, I can't do this one."

Ivy sighed. "All right. But try on the other one that looked so good, and come out and show Sirius."

"Why?"

"Because it's always nice to get a man's opinion."

"I don't think I require his opinion on something like that. No, I'm just going to change back into my clothes now, and then we'll be done here."

Ivy turned to Sirius tiredly and mouthed the words "she's hopeless" to him. He smiled.

"Now you know what I've been dealing with at work. She's this neurotic about everything."

Ivy sent him a sympathetic glance and patted him on the arm. Then she happened to spot Remus over by the window, and her expression instantly darkened.

"So what's going on there?" Sirius asked carefully.

She shook her head. "Damned if I know…. Damn him. God damn him to hell. He won't talk to me at all, and he won't tell me what I did."

"How bad is it really?" Sirius pushed again.

She took a moment. "…I don't know who he is anymore, Sirius. That's not who I married a few months ago. That's not the man I went on my honeymoon with. That's some morbid, angry, repressed human being who looks a lot like my husband."

Sirius thought for a moment. "Morbid, angry, repressed…. Sounds kind of like him when he's feeling wolfish, doesn't it?"

Ivy shook her head. "That's not what this is. I would know if that were it. And he wouldn't be so distant if that were it."

Guinevere opened the dressing room door and the conversation ended. Ivy turned and whispered softly to Sirius, "Guinevere and I have some things to wrap up here. Could you take Remus over to the specialty food store? We have to get something to bring to Ron and Hermione's engagement party."

Sirius nodded and walked over to Remus. "Come on, mate. We've got to go find some special cheese or some such."

Remus nodded mutely and followed Sirius out the door, hearing echoes of Guinevere and Ivy talking about some skirt or something. He had noticed that Sirius and Guinevere seemed to be getting along very well, and part of him was happy about that. They seemed to be good for each other right now.

Ivy was another story.

He just didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't fake caring about her the way he used to. He just felt like all of his emotions were used up. He couldn't feel anything about anyone really. Least of all her.

So he followed Sirius to the store across the street and stepped inside, hearing a charmed bell tinkle to notify the clerk of their arrival.

The clerk happened to be a striking young woman with brown hair and hazel, almond-shaped eyes. She looked sort of exotic, with an olive complexion and curvy lines. And she was smiling at Remus like she had never seen a man before in her life.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked, in a voice that wasn't uninterested, but also not too overeager.

Remus smiled in his usual charming manner and nodded. "Yes, I need to find something to take to an engagement party. It's two friends, you see, and I wasn't quite sure what to get."

She laid a hand gently on his shoulder to guide him and said, "Well then, follow me this way, sir. I'm sure we can find something that you'll like."

Sirius hung back because he was completely stunned into submission. After spending the entire day acting melancholy and impossible to get along with, Remus was suddenly bright and happy and totally willing to let a woman half his age hit on him. He had no idea what was going on, but Ivy seemed to be right – this wasn't the man she married.

They had been walking around the store talking and laughing for too long already. It was passing in a blur. Sirius finally focused his thoughts so he could hear what they were saying.

"These particular fruits are wonderful," he heard the young woman say. "You don't find them in most countries, but they're sweet and go with most other fruits too. The way to tell if they're ripe is to squeeze gently and also make sure that you smell them. Scent is always very important."

"Yes, I'd tend to agree on that," Remus said lightly, a sly smile in place.

_Well, of course he would,_ Sirius thought angrily, wanting to walk over and slap Remus into sensible thought, _he's damn werewolf! That's the sharpest sense he has!_

"Of course, if you're in the market for something sweeter," she let her lips linger on the last word ever so slightly, "we also have different kinds of imported chocolate, maple candies, jams and preserves…"

"I'm sure I'll like whatever you like," Remus said silkily.

The young woman laughed and nudged his chest with her shoulder teasingly. "Oh, you're just saying that to be nice."

"Never," Remus answered back in a playful tone, leaning forward so that he was definitely not a safe distance from her face.

Sirius was shuddering inwardly, but he couldn't think of anything to say that would stop this. If he tried to drag Remus out, he had a funny feeling that Remus would go wolf on him and start really letting him know who the alpha male was. What he needed was the alpha female. What the hell was taking Ivy so long?

In the meantime, the young woman's sweet laughter was grating on his nerves and he found his foot tapping uncontrollably against the tile floor.

"Or we could try wine tasting, if you prefer."

Remus shrugged unassumingly, but Sirius knew the primal glint when he saw it. "Only if you'll join me."

He was so close to her. Far too close. Sirius suddenly felt like he was intruding on the privacy of two lovers and the feeling was dirty. He wanted to back out quietly and let Remus fuck up his life as he pleased. He just needed to back up a few paces. Just a precious few…

The bell on the door tinkled.

"_Remus…_" came a voice not to be challenged anywhere on the green earth.

Sirius watched Remus' head snap up, all playfulness gone from his exterior, the glint in his eye snuffed out. But he didn't seem ashamed or afraid. And that's what made Sirius hate Remus for the only moment in his life.

"Yes, Ivy?" Remus answered in a bored voice.

"Could I _speak to you_ for a moment?" Ivy asked in a gratingly sweet voice.

"Yes, I suppose," was the response.

Sirius followed Remus outside. Once the door had closed behind them, he walked over to stand by Guinevere, who was looking equally stunned. Then the screaming started.

Sirius was not quite sure what was being said.

They were overlapping, both talking so fast and at the exact same time, so all that could be discerned was a crazy jumble of anger and passion and some form of betrayal.

And then they both vanished. They had to have gone back home, he surmised, but that still didn't change his feeling of complete bewilderment.

After a few endless moments, Guinevere's voice spoke up through the haze.

"Well… that was… fun."

He turned to her and attempted a smile. "I'm really sorry about that. But maybe they'll be all better the next time we see them."

"And maybe they'll be divorced," Guinevere suggested with a laugh.

Sirius knew that she was speaking from experience, and that was what worried him.

"Want to go get those groceries now?"

"Yes, please," Guinevere said tiredly. "I think I've had about as much drama as I can handle for one afternoon."

So they set off to the grocery store, lost in their own thoughts, both perplexed and sad.

* * *

Ivy didn't give Remus the chance to explain himself yet. She had been busy yelling at him, and when they had both Apparated to the front gates, she had raised a finger at him and said, "Not here. Upstairs. Right now." 

He followed her in brisk silence all the way up to their rooms. The tension was so palpable that the students who saw them in the hall did not say a word, and jumped out of the way as they passed.

As soon as they were behind closed doors, Ivy rounded on him and started at it again.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh Ivy, what's the point, really?"

She stamped her foot so hard that the floor shook. "God damnit Remus, you tell me what's going on here or I swear I will divorce you faster than you can say 'nasty lying cheating bastard'!"

"Fine!" Remus shouted. "Divorce me! That's what you want, isn't it? To be rid of me, finally? That's what all of this has been leading up to, hasn't it?"

Ivy blinked in puzzlement. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"You were so upset that some random woman was flirting with me in a store, but when you're doing the same thing all the time, right under my nose, it doesn't make a difference?"

"Remus, you looked like you were about to start making out with her in the middle of the place! And what are you talking about, 'I'm doing the same thing'?"

Remus shook his head and laughed angrily at the floor. "You know, I think that despite what you said about your mother's family being terrible, maybe you really missed them deep down, and you've just been dying to get in touch with those American roots of yours – "

Ivy reeled back to slap him, but he caught her wrist as it came down. They both stood staring at each other, livid, breathing hard, completely out of touch.

Ivy was the first to speak. "Let me go."

Remus squeezed tighter on her wrist. "Don't do that again."

"I'll do whatever I damn well please."

Remus snorted and let her go, tossing her arm away to prove to her how weak she was by comparison. Ivy rubbed her sore wrist and glared up at him furiously.

"Now, what did mother's family have to do with this?"

Again Remus gave a humorless laugh. "I can't believe you're making me spell this out for you, after everything you've done – "

"_I've_ done!" Ivy bellowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm not the one who decided that we couldn't talk anymore, that we couldn't be near each other anymore, that we couldn't make love anymore – "

"We did a few days ago!" he said exasperatedly.

"You weren't there!" Ivy shouted in vexation. "For all you knew I could've been anyone! You just got me off, so you could pretend that nothing was wrong! How could you even think for a moment that I didn't know? I watched you all night after that. I couldn't understand what had happened."

Her voice was getting more unstable with every word, and she couldn't look at him anymore. Remus walked to her back, making sure he didn't shout because it looked liked she couldn't take much more of that.

"How do you think it feels?" he hissed. "You spend all day with him, not with me. He's always right there, right at your shoulder, your back, and then you come home _smelling_ like him, and I can't handle that. What am I supposed to think?"

She turned around slowly to face him, but she didn't look sorry. She looked completely enraged.

"That's what this is about?" she asked slowly, the horrible realization dawning on her face. "Clayton? … You've been destroying our entire marriage over Clayton? ….What the fuck's the matter with you?"

Remus' voice locked up in his chest. That was not what he had expected her to say. He had expected her to defend Clayton and herself. Part of him actually did expect for her to admit to some affair they were having. Not this, not this look of betrayal and hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me that you hated him so much?"

Remus found the only thing that he had for her was a weak shrug. "He's assisting you, and you need the help, and it wasn't my place – "

"You're damn right, it wasn't your place!" Ivy shouted. "But if you loved me, you would have told me that he made you nervous. You would have _told_ me that you wanted him to leave anyway, because you would have cared about me so much that your need to keep me to yourself would have outweighed your worry that I'd get mad at you for saying something."

"You would've been furious if I had said anything against him."

"Yes, because the suggestion that anything was happening between us would be totally unfounded."

"That's not what everyone else thinks."

She cocked her head to the side. "Who's _everyone else_?"

"Everyone!" Remus said frustratedly, amazed that she hadn't even noticed how they looked together. "Sirius, Harry, Minerva, Severus, the students…"

"I see…" Ivy said slowly, working the idea around in her head. "So it appears that you've been talking to everyone about this, _except_ me. That everyone _knows_ I'm having an affair with Clayton _except me_."

He paused uncomfortably. "I didn't talk to everyone about it. I just know that lots of people noticed."

Ivy shook her head in incredulously. "But you couldn't talk to me about it. You've been worried about this since he came and you never said a damn word. You just expected me to figure out why you wouldn't touch me anymore, or talk to me, or…"

Remus froze as all the gears clicked into place. She was right. So was Sirius and everyone else who had told him that he was making everything worse by not saying anything. He hadn't wanted to play the role of jealous husband to her, but by keeping his mouth shut, he had done worse – he had alienated her and destroyed their relationship. They were all completely right and he was a damned coward.

_What have I done?_

"Ivy…"

She raised a hand up to stop him. "Don't. Please Remus, just don't. I've been hurt enough by you in my life. Never mind that I feel absolutely nothing for Clayton, or the fact that I've spent nights up trying to figure out what to do about this protest situation, trying to make sure that they don't hurt you…. I'm tired of you doing this." She walked up to him and grabbed the front of his robes, suddenly frantic, the rims of her eyes glistening. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I really love you? That I've never wanted anyone else? What do I have to do, Remus? How many times can I say it, or scream it, or show it to you? Why don't you ever _believe_ me?"

Remus had no answer for that. He had never thought of it that way.

But it was true.

He never did believe her, did he? Some small part of his brain was always convinced that she deserved something better, and therefore, wanted something better. How long was it going to take before that insecurity faded away? And more importantly, how much damage would he cause in the process?

The stranger thing was that part of him was still mad at her. Mad that she didn't understand this, mad that she hadn't been able to figure out what was bothering him in the first place. But that wasn't her job.

Ivy turned her back to him and started walking away. Remus reached forward to grab her. "Ivy – "

"Go away, Remus. I don't want to do this anymore."

"Ivy, wait!"

"No. I won't wait anymore. You blew it."

This time he got a good hold of her arm and spun her around to him again. "You can't just say it's over now! You can't just decide that we can throw everything away!"

"Says who?" she shouted, her face beginning to streak with tears.

"You can't," he said more definitely.

"You can't tell me that! Not anymore! Give me one good reason why I should let this keep going! How dare you tell me that I can't end this!"

But Remus didn't want to talk anymore. It clearly hadn't helped them so far, and his mind was too full of fear and doubt to continue trying to put together sentences that could ruin this more anymore than he already had. All of his emotions had been reignited too quickly, and now he was feeling everything so sharply it blinded him. And the very first thing that he felt was an alarming amount of love and pain. For her. For what he was losing in that moment.

This was all him. All his fault as usual. He seemed to have a frightening talent for letting things slip through his fingers. But if he tried to talk now, he knew she would walk away. She was too hurt by him to hear anymore.

So he quickly silenced her by crushing his lips to hers in a brutal, bruising kiss.

And she nearly collapsed from the feeling because she'd almost forgotten how powerful it was. She fought him at first, surprised and still too angry and wounded, pounding her fists against his chest. But he just pulled her closer, harder, willing her to be pliant beneath his hands, to stop struggling against him. And she eventually gave in, she had to. Because the kiss was needy and hungry, and his arms were wrapped around her tightly, pressing every inch of her to him.

And he was _him_ again.

The one that needed her just as much as she needed him. She found herself nearly hyperventilating as he continued because she was so panicked and relieved at the same time. But she was scared too. Scared that in one moment he'd turn off again, that he'd be cold and angry. She always seemed to lose him when she needed him most, and she had to make sure he stayed with her now. So she kissed him back harder, lacing her fingers through his hair.

"Oh God, it's really you…" she murmured against his lips, her eyes still damp from the tears she'd already cried, her wet lashes brushing his cheek. And when he whispered her name in return, she whimpered and bit at his bottom lip, squeezing her eyes shut.

After some time, she managed to pull away briefly and call to him.

"Remus…?"

"Yes?" he answered quickly, pulling his lips away and keeping the rest of his body pressed against hers.

"Nothing… just… air…" she said slowly.

And he laughed. He laughed that leisurely, murmuring laugh that always made her mind go soft and her head tip back. She wouldn't be able to refuse him anything if he did that again.

With her head back, Remus moved his lips to her neck. Ivy felt his hands pushing their robes off their shoulders to get at the clothing underneath, and she had a brief moment to wonder if this was where she wanted this to go. But she knew that after all the suppressed tension of their fight, of the past weeks, there was no other way to resolve this. And she wasn't sorry about it either. She needed his touch, needed it so badly she couldn't think straight…

His tongue trailed over her pulse point, and as soon as she gasped, he bit down. Ivy smiled as the familiar sensation of pain and excitement muddied her brain. He always had to bite at some point. She knew that it was about possession for the wolf, and that was flattering in its own way. But she had never admitted that to him.

And then he stopped. Ivy's stomach clenched in dread, but her fear was calmed when she felt his hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw his face a centimeter from her own. But he was not going to kiss her. He had his eyes closed and he was breathing in deeply, carefully. And she felt her heart skip a beat as though she were a silly teenager.

"What do I smell like?" she asked softly.

He opened his eyes slowly, his thumb brushing over the cheek he had cupped in his hand. "You," he said reverently.

Her. She only smelled like herself, and yet he had to stop and take that in. It was that important to him to know every part of her.

She giggled. "You are something else."

He tilted his head curiously, clearly wanting to know what that meant.

"Most men don't talk, you know. Or pause. They just like to get it over and done with. But you…" she said slyly, trailing a finger from his shoulder all the way down to his belt, where she looped the digit around it so she could tug him closer, "I've figured out your secret, Mr. Lupin. You're a damn romantic."

He smirked. "What, and you'd rather I be like other men, is that it? Just get it over and done with?" He deftly pulled her shirt loose from her skirt and dragged it over her head. "Because we can do that, if that's what you want." He started undoing all the buttons on his shirt in a very business-like manner while Ivy smiled in amusement. "We can do this quickly. I can take you in an aggressive fashion right up against the wall with you half-clothed and my shoes still on."

Ivy gave a pretend shudder as Remus actually did push her up against the wall, his hands gathering her skirt like he meant to pull it up and do exactly as he said. And then the pretend shuddering stopped as her body started trembling for real. He must have felt it too because a slow, seditious smirk twisted his lips.

His head tilted this way and that around her face, as if he was trying to decide what the best angle was to start attacking from. "Is this right?" he asked in a low growl.

Ivy mock winced. "With your shoes on? God, that's just downright depressing. People actually do that?"

Remus smiled. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the wall, bringing her back to rest against him. "That's what I thought," he said teasingly. "You're no better than I."

She shrugged. "Guilty."

Then she leaned up to kiss him, surprising him when she slipped her tongue into his mouth, her hands trailing mischievously around the skin just above his beltline. He responded by unzipping her skirt and pushing it down her hips until it fell on the floor. The undressing was simple and not at all showy, and it suited them both just then. He took a few paces backward so she could step out of the skirt, and let his fingers trickle down her bare back as she brought her lips back to his and finally decided to undo his belt.

She was surprised that they weren't going faster with how much tension there had been, how mad they had been as they fought. But he didn't seem to be in a hurry, and she certainly wasn't complaining. After how long he'd stayed away from her, she wanted this to go slow. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

Her fingers went to pull off his trousers at the same moment that he moved to unhook her bra, but Ivy paused and he took the cue from her and stopped as well.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, just… where are we going to do this? Because I'm thinking that we should move there soon."

He nodded in agreement, as out of breath as she was, and pulled her toward the coffee table and the couch. The light from the fire that the house elves lit every evening certainly made everything look lovely, but the location was troublesome. Ivy was about to tell Remus that there was no way that they could do this on the sofa, when he grabbed his wand from where it had fallen on the floor with his robe, and used it to move the coffee table to the other end of the room.

Which left them with a large expanse of rug at their disposal.

Ivy's mouth twitched humorously. "The rug and the fireplace? My, my, but isn't that a bit of a cliché…"

"Only if I charm the rug to make it softer and more comfortable."

"And you're going to do that, right?"

Remus smirked. "Of course."

He flicked his wand again, but Ivy didn't bother to watch the rug transform. Instead, she stepped back to him, placing her hands on his chest and letting her fingers intertwine with the light hairs there. She kissed his shoulder, snaking her tongue out to taste skin and sweat, and was rewarded by the sound of a light groan.

Remus dropped his wand on the couch and curled around her, his head bowing into the crook of her neck, his arms wrapped tightly about her frame, his hips pushing against her own. Ivy instinctually rocked and realized an immediate problem.

She tugged sharply at the front of his trousers. "You need to get these off now."

He chuckled softly and helped her take off the offending garment, kicking it away once it was off his ankles. His eyes then directed her attention to another problem, and she threw her arms around his shoulders to give him access to her back.

Remus took a few moments unhooking the damn thing. "This is the most poorly designed garment in the history of humanity."

Ivy laughed. "You're welcome to redesign it, if you think you can do better."

Remus snorted at the jibe and slipped her bra off her shoulders, tossing it away.

"I hope you remember where that landed," Ivy teased. "It would be a little embarrassing if someone were to come in and find it as an adornment for one of the lampshades."

Remus shook his head at her humor and dropped his hands to her hips, giving himself a little distance so he could look her up and down properly.

"You're beautiful," he said quietly.

Ivy blinked in disbelief. Always at the time when she felt the most self-conscious, he knew exactly what to say, a strange quality in a man. "It's been a long time since you've told me that."

"I'm sorry," was his truthful response as he looked back up to her eyes. "You should never doubt it, in any case."

Ivy closed her eyes at those words, making the decision to let him set the pace now. What she felt was hesitant and gentle, and so very warm. One hand reached up to her collarbone and trailed down slowly, brushing over her breast, her stomach, her hip. The fingers of both hands slipped beneath her underwear and slid it off slowly.

There was a second when his hands withdrew and she couldn't feel anything, but a moment later he pulled her into him and all she felt was skin. And they stood there like that for a long while, both enjoying that moment where no one had to be on top or underneath, where no one had to shout or groan or thrust, where neither one of them had to be in control. It was just two people curving to fit each other, pressing every bit of flesh that they could against each other, just wanting to be closer.

Ivy broke the stillness by kissing his jaw. He woke up from there, his fingers threading through her hair as his lips moved to her ear. She giggled at the tickling sensation, her hands scratching playfully at his chest to stop him. He kissed her lips briefly before guiding her to lie down on the rug. He had done a good job with the charm, Ivy noticed, feeling something beneath her that was soft and cradling. He laid down at her side, up on one arm so he could lean over her.

Remus ghosted a hand down her side, and Ivy moaned, arching her back deliciously. He loved watching her this way. When she forgot to be embarrassed and insecure, and gave way to raw feeling. It was becoming for her to be so enticing and free. And Remus suddenly wanted to ask a question that he'd never dared to ask before.

"Ivy?" His voice came out a little shakier than he would have liked.

"Yes," Ivy responded hazily.

He took a beep breath, gazing at her face intently even though she had her eyes closed. "If I asked to claim you tonight… would you refuse me?"

Ivy's eyes snapped open.

Claiming… oh, she knew about that. She had looked up all sorts of information on werewolves as soon as she'd learned about Remus' condition when they were younger. And claiming… that was one of the most interesting topics she'd come across.

It had a lot of ridiculous rumors that went along with it, of course. Some people said that werewolves "claimed" the first person they had sex with, and that that person was their mate for life. Both of these suggestions were wrong. Some said that once claiming had happened, the werewolf and his or her mate could read each other's minds. That was completely ridiculous as well.

From what Ivy had come to understand, claiming was a choice made by a werewolf and their partner, and they didn't become bonded for life because a werewolf could claim more than one person. It happened during intercourse, though no one seemed to be able to describe what actually happened then. It didn't make the couple psychic, it just gave them a deeper awareness of each other. And it was not something that any werewolf did lightly, as it required them to be both vulnerable and dominating – they had to open up completely to their mate, but they were the one "claiming" the other person as their own.

That was the textbook definition, at least.

Ivy had wondered if Remus would ever ask her for this, and sometimes wondered why he hadn't. But that brought up so many questions in her head, that she just generally did not think about it. She always ended up wondering if he'd ever claimed anyone before, or if he didn't feel close enough to her, or if it scared him. So she left it alone.

And now he was staring at her, trying to look sure of himself, but clearly terrified out of his mind. When she didn't answer immediately, he glanced away.

"I'm sure you already know what it is," he said slowly, trying to minimize the quiver in his voice. "I never asked before because I didn't think it was necessary – we've always been so close anyway. And I was worried that it could cause damage because that has happened in certain cases. But I can't help wondering what it feels like, and you're the only person I would ever consider doing this with. So I just wanted to know – " He turned his gaze back to her, somehow looking strong and petrified at the same time. "Would you refuse me?"

Ivy couldn't believe that he had to ask, but then she remembered who she had married. Still, she loved him so much – how could she refuse him anything? Especially something that would mean so much for them both?

She raised a hand to cup his cheek and felt him press into her palm. Locking eyes with him, she nodded deliberately and watched as he let out a breath she didn't know he had been holding. He shut his eyes briefly, allowing himself a moment of relief before plunging back into unknown territory.

"How does this work?" Ivy asked.

"It's already started," he explained, splaying one hand over her stomach, brushing with his fingertips. The distraction of skin made him a little more at ease. "As soon as the mate accepts the proposal, the claiming process begins, even though we may not feel anything."

She thought for another moment, wanting to get all of the uncomfortable questions out of the way. "Will it hurt?"

Remus fixed her with a sympathetic stare. "I have no idea."

Ivy nodded bravely. "That's okay. I'm not worried."

Remus chuckled doubtfully. "Well, that's a relief, because I certainly – "

Ivy did not give him the chance to finish. He was thinking too much, as usual, and she had a funny feeling that wasn't going to help him for this. He didn't have to be scared, this was her, just her. He didn't have to prove anything to her. So she pulled him down to her and began kissing him fiercely, guiding his hands to touch her everywhere she knew he wanted to, yanking at his waist to get him into a better position.

She closed her eyes when she felt him relax against her. She always had to wait for that to happen with him. Like he had to get comfortable with himself before he could move on to her. He didn't trust himself, which was ridiculous. She did. She trusted him more than any man she'd ever been with, and they _hadn't_ been werewolves. He didn't understand that, though. Didn't think he could be counted for the control.

And there was nothing Remus Lupin cared about more than control.

Ivy, on the other hand, wanted the control gone. She wanted him to lose it, to one day snap and do something ferocious, to say something dirty and completely out of character, to stop waiting for her approval on everything and surprise her once and a while. She hoped it would come with time.

So she would be the exploratory one for now. She would make the suggestions, and he listened most of the time. She really had to give him credit – when she tried to get him to try new things, he usually obliged her, even if he seemed wary. And he had tried more in his past than he let onto; she found that out the one night when he –

Ivy bit down on his ear, running her tongue along the edge, feeling him growl lightly in the back of his throat. "Louder," she whispered, goading him into it, biting down harder. He stifled a moan against her shoulder, his hips rocking involuntarily. Oh, she could feel _that – _

"Well, someone woke up," she teased impishly, swaying her hips a little, providing more friction.

And he growled again, now much louder, just the way she'd wanted. Then she shrieked, suddenly startled when his hands took hold of her wrists and pinned them above her head in one swift move, leaving him room to press down, hold her in place with his body. His face was close enough that she felt his hair brushing her forehead, and he was staring her down with an awful intensity that made Ivy burn in frustrating places.

"You," he hissed severely, "are a dirty tease."

Something fire-bright flashed in his eyes, an underhanded smile barely noticeable at the corners of his lips. This was what made Ivy's stomach shoot into her throat, what she tried to draw out every time, even if only for a moment. That dangerous lilt in his voice, the point where she couldn't be entirely sure if he was joking around or really having darker thoughts.

She was quick to smile. If she seemed even the slightest bit scared, he would back off immediately, horrified. So she smirked, half-closed her eyes, brushed subtly at the back of his calf with her toes. "Well, you'll just have to punish me for it," she shot back softly, wriggling a little against his hands to make him pin her tighter against the floor.

She could have sworn she saw his pupils dilate as he quirked his eyebrows at her response. But before she had enough time to look carefully, he dipped his head down and was licking a rough path up her neck, finally stopping at her mouth. "You needn't worry about that," he murmured darkly, capturing her lips in a rough, demanding kiss.

Ivy was twisting beneath him, desperately pulling in air through her nose, but it clearly wasn't enough, because she was feeling lightheaded and jittery from her oxygen-deprived high. She didn't care.

Eventually, it was the inability to use her hands, rather than the lack of breath, that made Ivy turn her head to the side, breaking the kiss. She felt his gasps for air against her cheek, felt him breathe the word rather than say it. "What?"

She took a few moments to catch her breath, before turning back to look at him. "Give me my hands back," she insisted, not about to beg him for it… yet.

His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Why would I do that?"

Well, she wouldn't be able to talk him into it, that was for sure. She'd have to be a bit more creative than that. So instead, she curled her leg around one of his, trailed her foot along the inside of his thigh. She went slowly, kept her eyes locked with his, moved up, up, up…

His breath hitched sharply when she reached the spot, his eyes fluttering shut for a brief second, but quickly snapping back open in surprise. She had certainly gotten his attention for the moment.

"Give me my hands back," she said again, more slowly this time.

He paused for a short time, just to preserve situation, intriguing as it was. To observe their positions, to study the rapid beating of his heart against hers, how she wasn't afraid. He had no reason for why, he just did it. And then he released her hands, watched carefully as she brought them up to his face, touched his eyelids, traced the bridge of his nose, caught his bottom lip between the pad of her thumb and the curl of her forefinger. How they managed to change tone so quickly was always a mystery to him, but he welcomed it. That way it was easier to stop if anything got out of hand, if he went too far, the way he always feared he might.

"Kiss me," Ivy mouthed the words, her hands winding around his back. He was in no position to argue.

Ivy's hands ran up and down his back, over countless scars. Her view of those marks had changed so much over the past few months. She had always felt so bad about his scars, about that constant reminder on his skin of what he hated about himself. But she found that he wasn't embarrassed by them anymore, the way he had been when they were children. He learned to live with them, to ignore them, if anything.

Ivy loved them. Not for what they stood for, but because it was him, something about him that she knew from careful, intimate study. She loved the feeling of running her hands over his back. The scars were only on the sides, as it was impossible for a werewolf to reach the center of his back, and Ivy would trace her fingers down his untouched spine, a place of sensitivity for him, before mapping the lines running up his flanks.

It was primal of her, and perhaps that was why it seemed right. To feel the ridges, the texture of his skin, and know that she was the only person he bared it to without thought.

She always paused, paid special attention to one mark right below his ribcage, one that circled round to the front. A large, jagged mark that always felt angry underneath her fingertips. If old Greyback had wanted to, he could have killed that five-year-old boy. He'd had the opportunity, grabbing him from behind like that. But Fenrir was making a point to Mr. Lupin, the father that night, and had left the boy with only one scar. The first of many.

Maybe it had something to do with the claiming, but Ivy started seeing things. She made it a point not to think too hard when she touched that place, felt the old magic that still lingered right under his skin there. But tonight she kept seeing that small boy, his terrified face, and she just couldn't get it out of her head –

Remus felt her mouth go slack, her chest shudder. He pulled back and stared, saw tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, felt where her hand was. "Ivy," he called. She didn't hear him. "Ivy, look at me," he said sternly.

Her glistening eyes finally found his face. "Oh…. Remus, I – "

He hushed her, closed his hand over hers, where it clutched at his side, pulled her fingers away from that spot. She shuddered again, catching her breath now that she was free, interlacing their fingers. Then she shook her head, trying to clear it. "I'm sorry, I just – "

He squeezed her hand to stop her. "Are you all right?"

Ivy swallowed for the sake of her dry throat. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I think it's the…"

He nodded once to let her know that he understood. "Bit of an overload there?" he guessed.

Ivy bit at her lower lip. "Yes, it was."

His eyes narrowed at her, tying to figure out what she needed right now, what was best at the moment. "Don't think about it anymore," was what he told her, bringing her hand to rest on his shoulder, waiting for her to dry her eyes.

When she leaned up to kiss him there was something desperate in the tilt of her head, the pressure of her tongue, and he gave her free reign to do what she wanted. Clearly, something had shaken her and he didn't want her to be worried all night like that. Soon both of her hands were on his shoulders and she was pressing, turning him onto his back and sitting up. She straddled his abdomen, leaned forward on her hands and stared down at him hesitantly.

Well, that wasn't like her, being tentative. Remus stared back, trying to think of something that would break the tension that she seemed to have building. With an expression that was half-coy, half-incredulous, he grabbed a lock of her hair and tugged at it gently, getting her to lean down another few inches.

"Is there some sort of plan here?" he asked cheekily with smiling eyes, "or were you just 'winging it', so to speak?"

It worked. Ivy smiled, started laughing, leaned all the way forward. "Shut up," she directed, snatching his bottom lip up between her own. She finally sat down, and Remus moaned outright when he felt her wet against his stomach. Ivy sighed, rocking her hips back and forth over his skin. "Missed you," she murmured headily, pulling her hair over one shoulder so it wouldn't get in her way, and dropping her mouth to his neck.

"Likewise," he groaned, his head falling back against the rug.

"What I _should_ do…" she pointed out between licks along his throat, "is send you outside… in the freezing… cold… just as you are… for what you did…"

She felt the start of his laughter underneath her, beneath his ribs and next to his heart, felt his hands grab her by the waist. But she didn't expect him to flip her over like that without so much as a warning or a 'by your leave'. Nevertheless, Ivy found herself on her back seconds later with him staring down at her, a bemused expression on his face. "Then why don't you let me make it up to you?" he suggested.

It was the errant look in his eye that curved her lips into a smile, that made her say, "Do your worst, then," and lie back without the slightest apprehension. She curled her toes and rubbed her legs together as she felt him start to trace the curves of her body. Ivy reached out, threaded her fingers through silver-cinnamon hair, shifted and arched under his hands.

And as they continued touching and playing, Ivy started to notice something. As Remus' tongue trailed softly from her navel to her neck, she shivered in approval. And then she felt him shiver.

"Wait a minute," she forced out.

Remus stopped immediately, fearing as always that something was wrong. "What?"

"It's nothing," she said instantly. "Just try something for me. I want you to focus on what you feel while you're touching me."

Remus raised an eyebrow in a puzzled but amused fashion, but he didn't seem to know what to do with that direction. So Ivy brought his head down to her breast, and said, "Okay, you can't stop just because I said something confusing. That is not fair to my senses which are all on overdrive right now."

"_Your_ senses?" Remus said incredulously, feeling playful, stopping her retort by tracing a nipple with his tongue. "You have no idea what it feels like to have your senses in overdrive! Not one clue." She tried to interrupt again, and this time was stopped as he blew cool air over the same area. "Your senses don't get heightened the way mine do. I can hear your heart beating faster and harder, I can smell your pheromones."

"Really?" Ivy managed to press out in amazement.

"Really."

A graze with his teeth.

"Oh God, Remus – "

"Yes, Ivy?" he inquired devilishly, a sly grin on his face.

She pulled him down to her breast again, her back arching up against her will. "Just… suck! Or do something! You can't keep stopping like that!"

He smiled and did just as she requested, a rush of pleasure pulsing through him as she mewled and bunched her fists in the rug. And suddenly, he felt a flash of something else, something that did not come from his own reactions to her. He felt a shudder run through his body, all the way down to his pelvis and back up to his head, where he now felt a little dizzy.

He sat up and clutched his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. Ivy sat up too.

"You felt it, didn't you?"

He looked to her quizzically. "What was that?"

"I'm not quite sure. You'll have to let me try something first."

Remus nodded to give her the go ahead, and then watched in some shock as Ivy reached her hand down between his legs and began stroking softly. He gasped at the sensation, which was now twining with all the other impressions that had just washed over him, and tried to keep himself somewhat in check, even though that place at the back of his brain that he could usually ignore was screaming at him to _take Ivy__now_.

After a moment, Ivy felt strong sensations spreading through her body, and though she knew they were pleasurable, she could not identify them as her own.

"It's like we're getting echoes of what each other are feeling," she tried to explain. "It must be part of the claiming."

Remus tried to shake off his other thoughts, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "So when that happened just now, I was feeling something of what you feel?"

"I think so."

He mulled that over for a moment. "You get dizzy like that?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "You have a much greater affect on me than I think you realize."

He couldn't think of anything to say. Somehow, "wow" just didn't cut it. But he was worried for her all the same.

"If you don't think this is a good idea, we don't have to – "

"Stop right there," Ivy demanded. "You don't get out of this one. Besides, I'm much too curious now."

Remus couldn't deny that he was too. "All right," he said slowly. After allowing a few more seconds to collect his thoughts, Remus pushed Ivy back down onto the rug, and lowered his lips to hers gently. Time to really start things up then.

Staying alongside her, Remus let one hand drift down past her chest, over her stomach, down between her legs, where he cupped her for a moment and watched her eyes shut slowly. Carefully, he parted her folds and stroked, just to the side of her center, as he knew she preferred that to direct pressure.

"Yes," Ivy breathed, just as he started to feel the echo of her senses. It wasn't as though he was feeling exactly what she felt, but even a general idea of it was enough to distract him, adding to his own arousal and confusing him completely. But he refocused his attention, forced himself to breathe, to keep close watch on her expressions and sounds.

He left his thumb to rub gently, moving his other fingers down further still, teasing against her slick opening. "Do you want me to – " he started breathlessly, not finishing because she nodded instantly.

He pressed one finger in, but she suddenly whispered, "two", and so he listened, sliding in two fingers, pushing them in and out a few times. Then he felt carefully, looking for that spot…

He ran over it and paused, crooking his fingers and pressing hard. Ivy gasped sharply at the same time that his vision went momentarily black, and he gave them both a moment to adjust. Once he was seeing clearly and she was beginning to squirm, he looked down at her curiously. "I'm in the right place?" he questioned, just to be sure.

She smiled faintly, her eyes soft, her mind hazing over. "What do you think?"

Remus leaned down and kissed her, his skin tingling everywhere as he pushed firmly against that spot over and over…

Ivy was panting and keening without thought, feeling that slow, deep build rack her from head to toe. She had avoided this side of sex with most men she'd been with in her life because they were clumsy and inelegant, they didn't care enough, but not him, of course not her husband, with those long, clever fingers of his, and _oh_, God _damn_ him, how did he _do_ that –

"_Remus…_" she whispered weakly, "oh God…"

When she felt that long, rolling shudder, she heard his breath catch in his chest, and realized that he was feeling it with her. "_Ivy_," he gasped before burying his face against her neck. She moaned in reply, incapable of speaking, still riding out that incredible high.

After what seemed like forever or maybe just a few minutes, Remus pulled back from her neck, stared at her in amazement. "So… that's what that feels like?"

Ivy laughed giddily. "That's _part_ of what that feels like. You're not even getting it full force, remember?"

He snorted, propping up on one elbow so he could stare at her properly. "I think I ought to be jealous," he said laughingly, still slightly winded.

"You think you _ought_ to be?" Ivy repeated. "Excuse me? I think you _are_."

He grinned. "Well, when I think about how many times I can do that to you in an evening, then yes, I am most definitely jealous."

Ivy giggled, brushing the sweat from his brow and kissing the tip of his nose. "Don't worry, dear, there are plenty of things you can do, that I will never be able to do." Her smile twisted slightly. "Speaking of which…"

His eyes widened at her suggestion. "Give me a second to recover, will you? That's the first time I've ever experienced anything resembling a female orgasm – I think I deserve a moment's rest."

Ivy laughed and shifted closer. Ah, the advantages of being a woman; different types of orgasms and faster recovery time. As she waited for his breathing to slow, his movements to become more deliberate, she kept the immediacy between them, touching, kissing, gently teasing with her tongue.

After some time, while Ivy was stroking between his knees with her feet, gently massaging his back as she kissed his chest, he looked down at her lazily and spoke with mock seriousness. "You know if you keep all of that up, I'm going to end up thinking that you want me to make love to you, or something…"

"That so?" she taunted back. "How terrible of me, then…"

He chuckled. "Yes, you are a vicious being."

She smirked. "Oh, yes, absolutely. That's why you married me, you know, we're both so vicious. So why don't you stop talking and make love to me, or something?"

He was about to respond to the cheeky way that she'd turned his words on him, when Ivy grabbed him by the back of his neck and brought his lips down to hers, driving him into a leisurely, deep kiss. Remus fell into the embrace, paid special attention to how he couldn't tell where his feelings ended and hers began. It was going to make things interesting, he was sure…

Ivy's arms encircled his back and she pulled him down so that he was lying on top of her. Their sweat mingled, their breathing became ragged again, and finally Remus decided that there was no reason to hold out any longer.

When he broke their kiss, Ivy's legs parted further out of instinct. He looked carefully into her eyes, making sure that he wouldn't miss any sign if she didn't want this, staying cautious. Claiming could still be a dangerous act, and it unnerved him.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly.

She nodded.

When he slipped into her, he felt the sensations twofold. His head reeled with too much emotional information at once. It was enough that they had spent weeks apart and all of this had been relief beyond measure. Adding her own feelings to his now, when they were like this, just made everything spin out of control. He took a minute to let the jumble settle in his mind.

Ivy seemed to be having similar feelings, as she looked completely thunderstruck and dazed, her eyes darting around the room, every breath she took seeming difficult for her. Remus almost pulled out, concerned that it might be too much for her, but when he shifted back, Ivy's legs came up and wrapped around him, holding him in place. That still wasn't close enough for her, apparently, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as well, drawing him down to her.

She was shaking hard and her heart was beating so fast – _too fast_ – and she kept a firm grip on him, so he couldn't lift his head and see if anything was wrong. But as he felt her heave shuddering breaths against his shoulder, he realized that she was taking her moment to adjust. She was holding him close to feel connected, to sort out what was physical and what wasn't.

He suddenly realized that this was probably where the 'damage' occurred for some during claiming. The partner mentally blew off their hinges because the couple went too fast, didn't allow time to regulate what they experienced, to sort everything out and just _feel_.

But Ivy had good instincts. She knew what she needed. And he carefully stroked a hand down her side to let her know he understood. He gave her time.

Finally, her breathing had slowed to a reasonable pace and her arms relaxed, letting him draw back to look at her. She seemed to have settled into it well now, her eyes lazily half-opened and staring at his lips, her hands trailing willfully over her own body, knowing that he would feel the touch on his own skin. She nodded ever so slightly, squeezed with her legs to let him know that it was time.

And so he rocked, beginning a rhythm slowly but surely. Ivy set her head back and let her hands wander everywhere they could find space and skin. Their pace started out calm and fluid and he never took his eyes off of her, always checking to make sure that he hadn't done anything to hurt her. But she never looked scared or hesitant, and her hips were thrusting up to meet his, so he assumed that she was all right.

As the pace picked up, however, he began to worry. Ivy was always very vocal when they made love, but when he had entered her this time, she had not made one sound since. She was so silent, in fact, that it was making him nervous.

But the feelings that he was receiving from her were staggeringly pleasurable, made it difficult to see straight, so she wasn't in pain. Her eyes were dark and wide, her lips parted, her whole body flushed, so she did desire what was happening.

He still had to make sure.

"Ivy…?"

"Don't stop," she whispered.

So he didn't. And he felt his awareness of her grow around him. Suddenly, he wasn't quite sure that they were separate people anymore. He had always heard those absurd stories where people claimed that they had "joined in spirit" with someone while they had sex, that "their bodies became one". He had always thought that was ridiculous, as he was always very aware that he was with another person, a separate human being with their own thoughts and emotions. That was the point, wasn't it?

But now his thoughts and emotions were blurring with hers, even more than before. He had never been so wrapped up in another before. And he knew that no one had ever known her like this before, not this close. So he could lay claim to her. It was the only thing that made sense.

And his mind spoke something that he would never utter aloud.

_You belong to me eternally. Every part of you is mine._

It wasn't about male superiority or power over another. It was simply the truth. If she had felt the same about him, he wouldn't have argued.

_You belong to me eternally. Every part of you is mine._

And though he hadn't whispered one word of it –

– Ivy nodded.

And at that moment they both reached climax, something that Remus vaguely realized shouldn't have been possible in their position. Ivy came with a hard gasp, her hands keeping a frantic grip on his back as though she feared she couldn't hold on. Remus moaned in the back of his throat and felt his entire body racked with a sudden explosion of energy unlike anything he had ever felt. Somehow, they both managed to keep their eyes open, to look at each other and see what they had done, though the rest of the world seemed to white out and go molten.

They stared for a long time.

Eventually, Remus realized that he could not hold himself there, and he pulled out, resting next to her on his side. There, he continued to look at her, trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened between them. But what he felt worried him.

Because he could feel her next to him. He could feel her trembling.

"Ivy? What's wrong?"

When she turned on her side to face him, he saw the fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm fine," she whispered defiantly. "It was just… intense…"

Remus could almost have laughed at the obviousness of that statement, but he waited for her to collect her thoughts.

"Thank you," were the next words that came out.

"What?" Remus asked perplexedly. "Why would you feel the need to thank me?"

She shook her head, trying to indicate that he didn't understand. "I mean, for asking me to do this. You gave me a gift, really."

He stared uncomfortably at her, not wanting this kind of praise from her after what had just happened. "Ivy…"

"I'm sorry," she said shakily, trying to stop him from over-analyzing her response, "I'm just trying to figure out exactly what that was, and I'm a little fuzzy on it right now. I just know that it was something much larger than me, and I wasn't expecting that…. It makes me feel small, that's all."

He wiped one of her tears away with a thumb. "I feel small too," he confessed, only recognizing that the statement was true after he had said it. He paused and watched her, tried to figure out what came next. "What do you need me to do right now?"

One hand reached out to him. "Just… hold me. I know that sounds stupid, but I need you to do that tonight. I need you to not let go."

He nodded perceptively and pulled her to him, one arm going around her waist, the other under her head, so he could pillow it and cocoon around her. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes. Yes, he knew this scent. This perfect scent of the two of them together in every possible way. And the undercurrent aroma of some kind of unidentifiable magic somehow made it all come together beautifully.

He heard her sigh as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Ivy – "

"I know."

Remus smiled and kissed her forehead before allowing sleep to take him.

* * *

So... how was that+gives evil laugh+ I _told you_ they'd be fine. I promised, right? Hope you guys were all right with everything, and that I didn't offend anyone. And don't worry, Sirius and Gwen get to have some fun in the next chapter (no, not _that_ kind of fun, you perverts). And for those of you waiting for more serious parts of the plot, they're coming up quicker than you think, so don't worry. TTFN! 


	10. Pubs, Shanties, and Showers

**Disclaimer: **Roses are red, violets are blue, since I don't make money, you don't sue! (Or something of that nature)

**Author's Note: **Oi! Well, I finally finished Year Two of college and moved into the place I'll be in for summer work. So now I'm finally able to update now that three shows, five papers, and moving into a very ugly dirty space isn't eating my brain (and now that my betas are done with school as well).

For the record, the next chapter will be kicking the plot into overtime and a lot of things will be set into motion. This chapter is a bit lighter and more fun ;)

For everyone who reviewed, who I couldn't respond to because you signed anonymously, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and remember that if you want me to respond, just leave your email, and I will respond to your review that way. If you have any questions, or anything at all, feel free to email me directly.

Okay everyone, no more to read from me – enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter Ten – Pubs, Shanties, and Showers**_

Guinevere had developed a way of calling on Sirius whenever she needed to talk to him. She simply stamped her foot hard on the floor. Sirius would hear the stamping through his ceiling and know that she needed to speak with him. She would then stick her head out her front window and wait for him to do the same. And he would look up and she would look down, and they would yell back and forth about whatever they needed to discuss.

Sirius and Guinevere had brought home a vast amount of groceries a few hours ago, and Sirius was now sitting in his flat, and debating on whether or not he should go to Hogwarts to check on Remus and Ivy. He would hate to find out tomorrow that they had divorced, and he hadn't come over to stop them. Not that he could really think of anything he could do if that were the case.

And then he heard stamping above his head. He wasn't sure what Guinevere wanted, but he really needed to talk to someone at that moment, so he walked over to the window, threw it open, and stuck his head out.

Looking up, he could see Guinevere staring down expectantly.

"Yes?" he prompted.

"We're going out," she stated firmly.

Sirius blinked. "What?"

"We're going out tonight. This has been a bad week, and you're going to take me to a bar. I need to drink ungodly amounts of alcohol, right now."

Sirius tried his best to hold in a grin. "And when did you suddenly decide that I was the best person to go out drinking with? Have you forgotten what happened the last time I got drunk?"

She cocked her head sideways. "No, but I'm counting on you to be the responsible one, and make sure that I don't put myself in a coma."

He blanched. "You're counting on me to be… responsible?"

Guinevere rolled her eyes, avoiding the long conversation that would undoubtedly stem from this if she pursued it. "You won't screw this up. If you let me down when I needed your help, you'd feel guilty."

"Wow, I suddenly moved up in rank from heartless-manipulative-bastard to man-with-a-conscience-who-will-take-care-of-me-while-I-get-sick-on-huge-amounts-of-alcohol.."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You owe me."

Well, he couldn't argue with that one. Especially not after the display Remus and Ivy had made. It was his fault that she saw that.

Guinevere smiled in triumph. "Besides, I'm already dressed for it. We're going out."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Dressed for it? What did you do, slip sexy lingerie on under your trousers?"

She laughed. "You wish, Black. I'll be downstairs in five minutes."

She pulled her head back in and shut her window. Sirius did the same, impressed with the saucy comeback (well, saucy for Guinevere) she had delivered, and already wondering what sort of evening this was going to turn into.

He changed his shirt, slipped on his leather jacket, and stepped outside. She was waiting out by the street, wearing a violet dress that matched her eyes. It fell to her knees and clung to her figure, and the fabric seemed to ripple naturally when she moved, like water.

She was wearing a black sweater over it, and clearly the neckline of the dress was still a bit too low for her comfort because she had the sweater pulled closed over her chest, even though it wasn't very cold outside.

Sirius' eyes wandered instinctually to her legs since, as he had noted before, the woman _did _have great legs, and now they were showing more than usual. He thought to give himself a good mental slap, but then he decided that there certainly wasn't anything wrong with finding the woman attractive. After all, Ivy was attractive, and he could admit that to himself without seeing anything wrong in it. It had been the same way with Lily. So he had no reason to worry about that at all.

She turned to him as he approached, and smiled awkwardly. "Good. Let's get going, shall we? You pick the place, since I have no idea where we should go."

"All right," Sirius agreed. He turned toward the street, feigning thought about where they should go, then side-glanced her and said, "Nice dress."

Guinevere shook her head self-consciously. "Ivy talked me into getting it today. I don't really own any dresses anymore, so it's probably good that I got it. I mean, I still hate wearing dresses, they can make you feel like produce in the supermarket, everyone staring so they can grade you – "

"And we're back to the supermarket…" Sirius muttered in amazement. _Something traumatizing must have happened to her there as a child…_ Guinevere was still babbling at full speed, so he held up a hand to stop her. "Can I make a suggestion? Promise you won't get angry?"

Guinevere nodded hesitantly.

He walked around behind her. "This is the kind of dress that makes a woman feel good about herself," he explained. He then reached around her shoulders and pulled the sweater down her arms. "Show off," he insisted, settling on draping the sweater around her shoulders in case it did decide to get cold.

He turned her around to face him, watching as her hands moved to her wrap around her stomach. Clearly, she didn't know how to carry herself in clothing like this. Sirius tsked at her and grabbed her hands, holding them out to the side so he could see the full picture.

"Have some self-confidence," he said, nodding in praise. "You look great."

She cleared her throat uncomfortably and stared off to the side. "Er, thank you."

He smirked good-naturedly. "Are you always this awkward when people try to be nice to you?"

"It's… something I have to work on," she sighed. "With you around, I have no doubt that I'll be given lots of practice at dealing with people in general."

"Undoubtedly," Sirius decided. "So should we get going now?"

"Yes, I think so."

"How are we getting there?"

Guinevere blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, walking would take a long time," Sirius explained. "So that leaves us with Apparation or the bike."

Guinevere laughed, backing away from him. "Oh no, you're not getting me on that thing in a million years. Are you out of your mind?"

He grinned. "I'm just kidding, Gwen. We're not going on the bike." He paused for a moment, then shot her a mischievous glance. "Although, I will teach you how to drive it some day."

"You most certainly will not!" Guinevere said exasperatedly. "I mean, really, drive it? Like I was one of those two hundred pound women with no hair, and massive tattoos, and a nose ring."

Sirius chuckled, taking hold of her arm so they could Apparate. "Well, I think you could do without the nose ring."

She pointed a finger at him, huffing like she was going to tell him off, before the look melted into a grudging smile. "Everything's a joke to you, isn't it?"

"Only when you're around."

"What, because I'm a joke?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at her attempt to turn everything into a possible argument. "No, because you need to laugh more."

"Oh."

"Ready?"

"Yes."

A few moments later, they were standing in front of a pub that Sirius went to quite frequently nowadays. He hoped a certain person would be working the night shift.

He gestured to the door. "After you."

Guinevere gave him a nervous look. He smiled reassuringly.

"Too late to back out now."

She nodded resolutely and stepped inside, making sure that he was right behind her.

Sure enough, Sirius was pleased to find the young man standing behind the bar as he stepped inside. His pause caught Guinevere's attention and she followed his eyes to see what had made him so happy.

"Harry Potter?" she exclaimed. "Harry works at the Three Broomsticks?"

Sirius raised a finger to his lips. "I think it's best that we refer to him as 'The Best Bartender in Europe' instead. Don't want to draw too much attention to that scar, after all. He gets enough flak about it as it is."

She gave a single understanding nod, although her confidence seemed to be diminishing by the second. "So now everyone's going to see me get totally smashed, including your godson?"

Sirius shrugged. "This was your idea."

"I know, and now I'm beginning to realize how crazy it is."

"You won't once we get a few drinks in you," Sirius insisted, placing a hand on her back and leading her up to the first two empty barstools he could find. "Bartender! Do your job, and get over here!"

Harry glanced down the bar and spotted him. The young man rolled his eyes and made his way over to where his godfather sat.

"Sirius, you need to learn to drink at home with friends."

Sirius pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Guinevere. "Halfway there, I brought a friend."

Harry glanced over at Guinevere, quite surprised. He soon smiled, though, and gave her a heartfelt, "Hello," reaching over the bar to shake hands.

"We haven't met properly, but I saw you at Remus and Ivy's wedding," she said quickly, trying to talk as though she wasn't terrified of her surroundings. "I'm Guinevere, Sirius' partner at work."

Harry's eyebrows went up to the top of his head, and he looked back at Sirius for a moment, trying to gauge his temperament. Well really, he was checking to make sure that his godfather was quite sane.

When Sirius showed no signs of abnormality, Harry looked back to Guinevere with an apology in his eyes. "I hope he hasn't been giving you too much trouble."

"Some damn grateful godson he turned out to be," Sirius muttered loudly, gazing at the ceiling.

Guinevere smiled at Harry. "Well, I'm sure you know better than anyone how impossible he can be."

When Sirius removed his eyes from the ceiling to shoot them both 'what the hell did I do to deserve this gang up?' looks, Guinevere smirked and revised her statement – "But he's been behaving himself."

Sirius literally pouted as Guinevere swiveled on her stool to look out over the bar and its patrons.

Harry leaned forward so he could speak to his godfather alone. With the rather large crowd providing substantial surface noise, he knew Guinevere wouldn't hear him.

"So that's – ?"

"Yes," Sirius finished for him. "We've been doing better. We're friends now."

"Friends?" Harry repeated incredulously. "Friends with the woman who you wouldn't shag if she were the – "

"Hush up, you," Sirius hissed, moving his eyes obviously toward Guinevere. "She's sitting right there, need I remind you. Besides, I'm not here to shag her. She's had a bad week, and she told me that she wanted to get drunk off her arse. And then she insisted that I be the one to look out for her."

Harry blinked. "She did realize that she was asking _you_ to look out for her at a bar?"

"I'm two seconds away from boxing your ears, boy," Sirius threatened good-naturedly. "Yes, she asked me because we're friends."

Harry sighed, looking unconvinced. "Well, as the bartender I have the conflicting job of trying to get you to purchase as much alcohol as possible, but not drink yourselves to death. So I hope that you're really going to look out for her, because there's not much I can do if she loses it."

Sirius waved an unconcerned hand. "We'll, be fine. I'm not planning on getting drunk, and you know I can hold my liquor."

"So you say…" Harry muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," Sirius growled. "Try to be a little glad on my behalf, will you? This is technically the first time I've been out with any woman, as friends or otherwise, in years."

_Well, that was a cheap shot way of making me feel totally guilty_, Harry thought, as he felt waves of loneliness stinging him instead on Sirius' behalf.

So Harry took a moment to look at the woman who had commanded Sirius to take her out to the bar. She was very beautiful and clearly uncomfortable and awkward. Then he noticed something else.

"I thought you said that she never wore anything besides trousers."

Sirius smirked. "A side effect of spending too much time with Ivy in a clothing store. Apparently the first dress she's had in years."

Harry's mind traveled again at the mention of Hogwarts' Headmistress. "How are Remus and Ivy doing?"

Sirius winced. "Don't ask. They were terrible today, but I don't want to get into it just now. We'll talk about it later."

"Talk about what?" Guinevere asked, swiveling back in her chair and becoming part of the conversation again.

"How I'm going to have my way with you in the bathroom," Sirius deadpanned.

"Ah."

Harry laughed and shook his head simultaneously. "So what'll you have?"

Sirius looked to Guinevere for the verdict.

She turned her gaze to Harry. "Firewhiskey. Straight up."

Harry's eyes widened, but he didn't argue. He began placing the shot glasses on the table.

Sirius, however, could not just let that alone. "Firewhiskey? Weren't you the one who said that one shot of that stuff makes you easy to take advantage of?"

She shrugged and retorted without missing a beat: "Well, if you're planning on shagging me in the loo…"

He gave a deep chuckle. "You're getting sharper by the minute, Guinevere."

"I know, you had better watch out. Soon I'll be too quick for you."

Harry reached toward the back of the bar and returned with the bottle of firewhiskey. As he poured it into each glass, he warned, "This stuff is really strong. I'd take it easy if I were you because it only takes a few shots for the room to start tilting."

Guinevere proceeded to ignore what Harry had said, and downed the shot in one gulp. And then she started hacking and coughing and gasping for air.

Sirius patted her back gently and pulled back some of her hair so he could see her face. "Easy now. You normally don't want to drink that fast unless you're used to it."

"That's hideous!" Guinevere managed to hack out. "Why would you drink this?"

Sirius shrugged, realizing that he actually didn't have a good answer for that one. Well, at least not one that she would find suitable. "Well, it's called firewhiskey for a reason, you know. It's supposed to burn everything out. That's what it's good for, I suppose."

She nodded. "In that case, keep it coming, Harry. I don't want to remember anything in an hour."

Harry bit his lip, but did as she asked, both he and Sirius watching in horror as she quickly knocked back another shot (coughing again terribly) and pointed to the glass for a refill.

"Slow down!" Sirius exclaimed. "At least wait for me to catch up to you a little!"

She looked at him quite seriously. "You have five seconds before I'll be on my fourth shot."

And then she downed shot number three and looked at Harry impatiently until he refilled the glass again.

Sirius put his hand over her glass before she could pick it up. "You shouldn't do more than three in one go like that. Wait a while for the next one. I promise that you'll be plenty drunk in a few minutes, just give the alcohol a chance to reach your stomach."

She paused and then nodded, sitting slumped and downcast as she waited for everything to take effect. Sirius took a relieved breath and sipped from his glass, shooting Harry a 'this was really a bad idea, wasn't it?' glance. Harry had no problem returning the glance with a 'yes, definitely' look of his own.

They waited for a few minutes in silence. Guinevere almost seemed to be asleep, and Sirius didn't want to wake her if that was the case. There were some people down at the other side of the bar that were calling for Harry, so he turned to his godfather.

"You going to be all right here for few minutes?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

So the young man walked down to the other end of the bar, and Sirius waited for Guinevere to do something that required his attention.

Eventually, she opened her eyes and stared around the room as though she couldn't understand why it was moving. Sirius watched her closely.

"Oh, that's fantastic," Guinevere decided, her words beginning to slur. "Makes everything a little blurry. I like that." She dipped her finger in her shot glass, raised the finger to her lips and licked it. "And it tastes like petrol and cleaning fluid."

"With just a hint of chestnut," Sirius added with a smile.

Guinevere turned her head slowly to look at him. When she finally did, she smiled back. "I'm so glad you're here. Drinking alone is an awful business."

_Yes, it is,_ Sirius thought. _But when you have to, you still do it._

"Do you think that Remus and Ivy will be all right?" Guinevere asked absently.

Sirius did not like the fact that this was the subject that kept coming up. "It's up to them, really. Why?"

"Nothing," Guinevere said. "I just know that feeling. That feeling of when it all goes to hell."

She immediately covered her mouth with a hand at what she'd said. Then she gave up angrily, and pounded her fist on the bar, sending drops of whiskey splashing down on the wood surface.

"Of all the places and times that I could have run into them!" she shouted. "I was so happy when they moved to Switzerland because I knew I'd never see them again!"

Sirius frowned, but couldn't think of anything he could say or do to make this better. Besides, in his experience, when someone needed to get drunk with other people around, it was usually to get everything out in the open with a clean conscience.

She dropped her forehead into her hand and turned her face to look at him through her tangled mass of hair. "He never wanted to take me to Switzerland. I never met his family, did you know that?"

Sirius shook his head.

"I don't think he wanted his family to meet me. They didn't come to our wedding. But when he married _her_, it was off to the snowy mountains! Come and meet my gorgeous, treacherous, blond-haired, big-breasted trophy wife! She likes to stay at home and shop all day, isn't she wonderful?"

She sniffed and lifted her head, gazing around the room. Then she turned back to her shot glass and tossed her head back with the next round of whiskey. She smacked the glass back down on the bar.

"And I'm so bad with people," she muttered. "I never liked having lots of friends when I was child, and then I got worse as an adult." She looked back to him. "Don't lie, I come off terribly awkward, don't I?"

Sirius couldn't deny that, and knew that she was drunk enough to get pissed off if he lied. "Yeah, you do."

She shook her head hopelessly. "I know. It's so sad. I just don't know what to do when people act funny, or playful, or friendly. I keep to myself, and I used to think that was all right."

She scratched her nails against the bar's wood surface and sighed. "And then I met Alec, and I didn't keep to myself anymore because there was someone who I wanted to share everything with. And he sure bloody well threw that back in my face."

"So he was an idiot," Sirius supplied. "So why should you care?"

Guinevere straightened up resolutely. "I don't care. Not one bit. I just wish that I could be better with people. Then I wouldn't be alone all the time."

"Well, getting better with people requires spending more time with them," Sirius reminded her. "That's the only way that you're going to feel more comfortable."

"I know, I know," Guinevere moaned. "I'm just so bad about it. I mean, I stopped going to the Christmas party at work because I would always end up talking about work, and they would always be talking about their families, and looking at me like they felt so sorry for me."

"You're a much more interesting person than that," Sirius told her. "You just have to learn how to show it."

Guinevere shot him a disbelieving glance. "How am I interesting?"

"You're sitting here in a bar drinking firewhiskey, for starters," Sirius joked.

She shook her head hopelessly and grabbed Sirius by his sleeve. "God, what is it about you? Everyone loves you, even when you're a complete arse! You've been that way since we were children!"

"And I'm alone most of the time too, in case you haven't noticed," he pointed out grudgingly.

"But everyone loves you! I mean, Sylvia's uterus almost dropped out when you told her we were going out, she was so jealous! And she's married! Besides, no one expects you to be married or have lots of friends over or anything, you've been in prison."

She clapped a hand over her mouth at the mention of the forbidden word, and shot him an apologetic look. And then she became depressed again as another thought surfaced.

"And now Sorsha's in prison. That poor girl." She fanned herself, feeling warmer from a combination of the alcohol and the large amount of people in the pub. "I hate that part of my job. I hate it when they get dragged off like that and caged like animals. I mean, can you imagine the kind of childhood she had? Growing up in sewers, the most dangerous werewolves in the United Kingdom raising her?"

She tugged at the sweater that was still draped around her shoulders. "Sometimes I think that the reason I don't do well around people is because I hate them sometimes. I hate them for what they don't do, what they decide not to understand."

"That makes sense," Sirius said softly.

Harry was down at their end of the bar again washing glasses, and she reached over the bar and tugged his sleeve. "Fill it up again, Harry. I plan on not remembering anything that I've said tonight."

Harry looked to Sirius for the final judgment. Sirius looked at Guinevere for a moment, then looked back at Harry and nodded. Harry filled up the shot glass again.

As the amber liquid reached the top of it, Guinevere started crying. "They looked really happy, didn't they?"

"What are you blathering on about?" Sirius gentled, putting a hand on her back.

"They were really happy," she said quietly. "And she looked great, didn't she? They both did."

Sirius tried to smile. "No, from the way he was cutting his hair I'd say it looks like he's going to be bald in a few years."

She actually laughed at the comment, which made Sirius feel a little better, until she said, "But she looked good, right? I mean, you're a man, you probably thought she looked attractive."

Sirius shrugged noncommittally. "So-so, I'd say. Pregnancy did not agree with her. I mean some women look radiant, like your mum," he said to Harry, who was cleaning glasses again and trying to pretend that he wasn't listening in on their conversation. "But she looked really… tired and – "

"No, she didn't," Guinevere cut him off. "She looked beautiful. It was always that way, even when we were in school. I was a bookish, brownish Ravenclaw know-it-all, and she was the brash, blond Gryffindor beauty." Her eyes filled with tears again. "And now she's going to have a baby. She convinced him to have a baby."

"Yeah, and he's probably not too happy about it. The fact that she had to convince him should tell you that."

Guinevere shook her head. "But she's still going to have one…"

Sirius grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her a little to get her to look at him. "So is that what you think? You think that if you'd had a baby it would have turned out differently?"

She paused longer than Sirius would have liked and then said exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"Maybe…"

"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed. "Guinevere, I want you to listen to me very carefully – there is no worse reason to have a child than that. It wouldn't have changed him or the stupid decisions that he made, and then you would have been left to raise that child by yourself."

"I wouldn't have been alone," she said softly.

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut. It just wasn't right. It wasn't right for her to sound so lost and helpless. No matter how alone she felt.

"And maybe I wanted to have a child," she added.

"You still can," Sirius insisted.

She laughed. "To most people I'm already an old maid, Sirius!"

"Who cares what you are to most people?" Sirius said, feeling angry for her. "You can still have children if you want them."

She leaned her cheek on a hand. "I'd probably be a terrible mother anyway."

Sirius sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, for God's sake…. You're just determined to think that you've let your life slip away. I want you to take a good look around this bar. Take a look." He waited for her to do as he directed. "There's no standard age group here. No class system. No specific kind of relationship you're supposed to be in. Just a lot of people here to have a good time. They all know they're not dead yet, but you seem to think that your life stopped after he left you."

As if someone had heard Sirius' little speech, the band that had been setting up in the corner all evening, finally started to play. It was a happy tune, sort of a jig, and everyone started to laugh and clap along.

He smiled at her. "Find someone to dance with."

Her eyes widened fearfully. "What?"

"Find someone to dance with. Someone you've never met. Someone who's a total mystery to you."

"I can't – "

"All right, now I hope I'm not being rude," came a voice over Guinevere's shoulder, "but you should be out there on that dance floor, instead of sitting here letting this fellow talk your ear off."

Guinevere turned around to find a nice looking man, probably younger than her, holding his hand out. "One dance?" he begged.

She looked back to Sirius for help, but Sirius held up his hands and said, "She's all yours. I wash my hands of her."

The man grabbed Guinevere's hand as she glared daggers at Sirius, and led her onto the floor. Sirius turned to Harry, who he could feel staring at him over his shoulder.

"So what was that breakdown about?"

Sirius took another sip of whiskey from his glass. "She had a really bad marriage that lasted for years, and ended in her husband running off with her best friend. And the other day we happened to run into the happy couple at the grocery store. Her former friend is now very pregnant, and it looks like they're moving back into town."

Harry pushed his glasses up on his nose. "That's horrible."

Sirius nodded in agreement, glancing out at the dance floor. Guinevere seemed to be tripping over herself, but she appeared to be having a fabulous time, bursting into hysterical laughter every time she made a mistake. The man she was with found her quite charming, and laughed right along with her as they made their way around the floor.

"She got the hang of that pretty fast," Harry commented.

"She's damn smart. She'd probably catch on to most things really fast if she'd just let herself. And she'd probably have plenty of men hanging around. This one seems to think that she's just fantastic. Doesn't know how neurotic she is yet, but that's a conversation that can wait for the morning."

Harry blanched. "You're not just going to leave her in the hands of some man she doesn't know?"

Sirius smirked. "Have a little more faith in me than that, would you? I won't let her go home with anyone tonight. Next time, though," he decided, "she's on her own."

Harry grinned. "You're such a wonderful person."

"I know, I'm just full of protective instincts and loving gestures," he finished. "So how's everything going with Ginny?"

He was sharp enough to see the tiny rush of color to the young man's cheeks, and the way in which Harry found new interest in the glass he was cleaning.

Sirius leaned forward. "Come on, boy. I could read your father like a book, and you're no different."

Harry shrugged in a defeated manner. "Wish she was out of school. I could see her more then."

"I'll bet," Sirius replied. "Have you told her that you fancy her?"

Harry stared at the ceiling. "No, haven't really warmed up to that one yet."

Sirius tilted his head in a scolding sort of way. "You want to know what your father would say to that?"

Harry's immediately defensive body language said 'no', but he looked to his godfather curiously all the same.

"He'd say, 'Harry, no man ever scores one point in his life if he keeps letting bludgers knock him off his broom'."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Please tell me he wouldn't use lame Quidditch-speak like that."

"Harry, I think you're forgetting who your father was. That man could relate anything in life to Quidditch."

"Why did my mum marry him, again?" Harry asked helplessly.

"Because he was a brave, selfless, and loving man," Sirius answered without missing a beat. "And he apparently was a very good kisser because your mother felt the need to mention that on more than one occasion."

"I'm so glad you're here to tell me all the important things about my family, Sirius," Harry sighed sarcastically.

"You've never asked me anything important about them," Sirius pointed out. "I keep waiting for all the interesting questions you'll come up with, but they never come."

Harry shook his head. "Not quite sure I'm ready for it yet."

Sirius gave his godson a look of sympathy. "I know."

The young man decided that it was time to change subjects again. "So I take it work is better now since she doesn't hate you quite so much."

Sirius was about to answer when he heard a lot of cheering and shouting coming from the dance floor. He looked over and saw a crowd of people standing around Guinevere shouting, "Song! Song! Song!"

Guinevere was blushing, still not quite steady, as she was not used to having to feel her balance when she was drunk. She shook her head and tried to make them stop, but they continued to shout, "Song! Song!"

Then one of the men grabbed her by the waist and carried her over to the band. "Come on, lass!" he cheered in a thick Irish brogue. "Let's 'ave a song from ye!"

"I don't know any songs! I can't really sing!" she insisted, hiccupping a second later. One of the men handed her a glass of beer so she could drown out her hiccups, and she took the glass, draining a liberal amount of it before handing it back to him and sheepishly saying, "Thank you."

"We heard you humming away with the band!" called the man who had been dancing with her. "Come on! Let's have a tune!"

She rubbed her elbow nervously with one hand, and glanced around the pub. Finally, she managed to ask, "Er, are there any sailors in the room?"

About five men in different areas of the room raised their hands and stepped forward. They were all stocky, large and menacing, but for Guinevere they all managed a smile.

She smiled back shyly. "Well, er… I'm going to need your help with this one. I hope you all know it, it's supposed to be a sea shanty or a drinking song."

And then she stood still as a rabbit trying to avoid a fox, not sure of how she would begin. It looked as though she would run off any second in a panic, but suddenly people started clapping a rhythm for her. She paused and watched them all, nodding her head to the beat they provided. And then she started singing in an unrefined, but charming voice:

"_Cape Cod boys don't got no sleds"_

"_Heave away, heave away,"_ the five sailors answered in heavy, booming voices.

Guinevere smiled at them as if she'd won first place in a school potions fair and continued.

"_They slide down hills on codfish heads"_

"_We're bound for Australia," _the men answered again.

Guinevere nodded at her sailors and they all joined in on the refrain:

"_So heave her up my bully bully boys, now  
Haul away, haul away! Yip!  
Well, heave her up and don't you make a noise  
And we're bound away for Australia"_

Everyone in the bar began cheering, and others joined in on clapping out a rhythm for Guinevere. She laughed and looked back bashfully at the band, but they all smiled at her and picked up their instruments, adding to the fray now that they knew the tune.

Sirius was staring dumbfounded at the woman who was standing in front of the crowd drinking away, and singing sea shanties. Who exactly had he brought into this pub?

"I take it Guinevere doesn't do this often," Harry said, noting the look on his godfather's face.

Sirius shook his head. "Guinevere doesn't sing," he said dazedly. "She doesn't sing, she doesn't drink hard liquor, and she doesn't like being around too many people."

Harry smirked. "So who's that up there, then?"

Sirius looked toward the crowd, the voices of Guinevere and everyone in the bar now answering her back causing a buzz in his head:

"_Cape Cod girls don't got no combs  
They comb their hair with codfish bones"_

"_So heave her up my bully bully boys, now  
Haul away, haul away! Yip!  
Well, heave her up and don't you make a noise  
And we're bound away for Australia"_

"I have no idea…" Sirius decided bewilderedly.

By the end of the song the whole pub was singing, clapping, and stamping around. They applauded Guinevere as she timidly stepped away from the band, and crowded her when she tried to leave the dance floor.

After a few minutes, she finally made her way back to Sirius and Harry. Heaving a heavy, high-pitched sigh, she shook her head and laughed. Then she looked up and saw Sirius' 'care to explain?' face, and started to laugh harder.

"This is a great place!" was the only answer she could offer. "Really, it's wonderful! It seems so different from when we were kids. Everyone's so friendly, and they just stood me up there and made me sing!"

"And?" Sirius prompted.

"And…" Guinevere clutched her head suddenly, still giggling. "And I think it's about time to go home."

Sirius nodded. "I think that's probably a good idea."

Guinevere and Sirius stood up from the bar, Sirius dropping some money down for the drinks. His godson smiled at him.

"Thanks for the eventful evening," he said.

"Always happy to oblige," Sirius shot back. "I'll see you at Ron and Hermione's engagement party, right?"

"Now why would you think that, Sirius? I mean, I'm only their best man."

Sirius glared at him with a grin. "Cheeky little bastard."

Harry shrugged and waved goodbye.

Before they got to the door, one of the men stopped Guinevere. "Do you need someone to escort you home, miss?"

Guinevere blushed and smiled, but shook her head all the same. "Thank you, but I already have someone taking me home."

The man grinned at her. "Shame. Hope we'll see you around again soon."

Guinevere nodded and ducked out the door, Sirius following behind her. He took her arm quickly to Apparate. "Ready?" he asked.

Guinevere looked around outside, taking a deep breath. She looked up at him hopefully. "How far are we from home?"

"A ways."

"Could we walk for a bit? It's so nice outside, and I have a funny feeling that Apparation will make me throw up rather quickly."

Sirius chuckled and started walking with her down the street. "You're probably going to throw up no matter what."

"I know, but I'd like to not do it front of anyone."

"I'm not the one you should be embarrassed in front of."

She shook her head. "I'm embarrassed in front of everyone."

He shot her an incredulous look. "Everyone? Does 'everyone' exclude all of the people in that pub that you just gave that lovely performance to? Or maybe I qualify as 'everyone', and you're really not embarrassed around anyone but me?"

She snorted. "You'd like to think you were that important."

"Oh fine," Sirius huffed. "I give up on trying to understand you. It's impossible."

There was silence for a moment, as if Guinevere was trying to figure out whether or not Sirius was angry with her. She walked along, staring at the lit windows in people's homes.

"Thank you," she finally said. "Thank you for doing this with me. I had a great time."

"I can tell you did," Sirius replied without a hint of anger in his voice. Guinevere calmed at his tone and rubbed her shoulders.

"Where's your sweater?" Sirius asked.

She glanced at her shoulders, as if she were expecting it to appear, then clapped a hand to her face. "It must have fallen off my shoulders when I was dancing. That was stupid of me."

"I'd wait until morning to go back and look for it," Sirius suggested. "Now it's too crowded, and if someone picks it up, they'll give it to someone who works there and you can get it tomorrow."

She nodded and continued rubbing her shoulders absent-mindedly. Sirius shook his head and shrugged his leather jacket off, but when she saw him do it, she stepped away from him.

"No, you're not giving me your jacket – "

"Not negotiable," Sirius stated firmly. "My family, despite all the terrible things they did teach, also taught my brother and I to be gentlemen. And a gentleman cannot be with a coat when a lady is without one."

When he moved to put the jacket on her, she reached out her arms obligingly and gathered it close to herself once it was on. After a few moments of walking in it, she pulled the jacket toward her nose and inhaled deeply. Sirius blinked perplexedly at her until she said, "I love the smell of leather."

His jaw dropped. "But you hate that jacket…"

She laughed in a maniac sort of way. "I hated the jacket because it was yours. And because it reminded me of certain aspects of your personality that I don't like." She took another deep breath with the black fabric under her nose, her eyes shutting briefly as she continued walking down the street. "But I love the smell of leather. I love the smell of this jacket. That's why it used to piss me off so much when you wore it."

"Anything else I should know?" Sirius asked, astounded. "Weird fetishes? Cult memberships? Dead bodies in your closet? Oh – you don't have a thing for handcuffing people, do you?"

She laughed and looked over at him. "What was it you said to me on our first week working together: 'I don't think we know each other quite well enough for me to be telling you all of my secrets'? Yes, I think that was it…"

Sirius nodded in feigned understanding. "I see…. It's the handcuffs, isn't it? You probably have a pair in the drawer of your bedside table."

Guinevere shook a finger at him. "Ah-ah-ah. That is something which you, sadly, will never know."

"Sadly for me, or sadly for you?" Sirius inquired innocently.

"Nice try, Black."

"Oh no, no surnames between us while you're wearing my jacket that you can't stop sniffing."

"It smells good!" Guinevere exclaimed. "I can't do anything about that."

"Except pretend to hate it for the first few months because you hate me."

"We're friends now, Sirius. Let's try to use 'hate' in the past tense."

Sirius stifled a frustrated growl and uncurled his balled fists. He wasn't really angry, there was just something about their banter that was absolutely infuriating. More so because he didn't know what it was. There was something that he was supposed to do, he just couldn't figure out what.

"You're quiet," Guinevere pointed out all of a sudden.

"I know," he sighed.

"You can't go all quiet on me like that, it confuses me," she continued. "It makes me think that I said something wrong."

"You didn't, I promise."

Another minute of silence passed.

"Can we go home now?" Guinevere asked.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, sure."

He took her arm and in a few seconds they were in front of their flats. Guinevere clutched her head for a moment and swayed.

"You okay?" asked Sirius.

She took a couple breaths before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little woozy is all." Another thought occurred to her, and she laughed cynically. "Oh, we have to work tomorrow. And I'm going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, aren't I?"

"Probably," Sirius conceded. "If it's really bad let me know, I've got a great charm for nasty hangovers."

"I don't want to trouble you anymore than I already have."

"No trouble," Sirius insisted. "Just knock on my door. I'd say stamp on the floor or call down for me, but if it's a bad hangover, you won't want a noise that loud."

"Right," Guinevere agreed. "Well, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Sirius nodded, walking toward his door. He stopped when he saw that Guinevere was simply staring up the stairs at her door.

"What is it?"

She kept staring at the door. "It's just sad…. I don't even have a cat. Or fish. There's nothing up there but books and crockery."

Sirius stood in front of his door uncomfortably. Should he go up there with her? Should he tell her to wait down here with him for a while? Should he just let her think on what she'd said for a moment?

"But you remember that dog I told you about?"

"The big black one that you saw out back a while ago?"

She nodded. "He comes to visit me sometimes. When I'm sitting out there. He keeps me company." She finally pulled her gaze down from the door and looked at him. "Are you sure you haven't seen him yourself?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, can't say I have."

Guinevere sighed. "Oh, well. Maybe he's just a figment of my imagination too."

And with that, she trudged up the stairs, tried to unlock the door three times before succeeding, and disappeared into her flat. Sirius watched her go, feeling strangely heavier when her door shut.

* * *

Ivy felt heavy. Very heavy.

So when her brain began to alert her that she was now in the place between sleep and awake, she fought that feeling with all her willpower. She just needed a few more minutes. A few more hours maybe. Or, how about days? Days were good.

But things kept registering. She was becoming aware that it had to be morning because she could tell that it was light out through her eyelids. She knew that she wasn't in her bed because the surface beneath her was stiffer than usual. She felt warm, too warm, although she also realized that she was not clothed because there was no weight of fabric against her skin. There was weight against her hip, though, specific weight that was not normally there. Maybe she was eating too much chocolate lately.

And then all of these facts collapsed together at once, and the previous night came crashing back with a clarity that forced her brain into the back of her skull.

But she wouldn't panic. She still didn't know what was going on in the world outside. And though she wasn't sure that she wanted to know, she forced herself to open her eyes.

She felt her heart slow down and speed up a second later. Definitely the result of drowning out realization with relief.

Because he was still there.

He was awake already, his eyes open and lazily alert. She was thankful that he was not looking in her eyes, though, because if she had seen that first she probably would have gone stiff as a board and then lurched back into the wall like a nervous rabbit.

But he was letting his gaze wander over her hair, her ear, her shoulder, her hand on his chest. Eventually, he made it back up to her eyes. When he found them open, he blinked quickly and smiled.

Ivy managed to speak first. "You're still here."

He nodded.

"You stayed."

He nodded again.

"You didn't let go."

"You told me not to."

She bit her lip and allowed her thoughts to come forward in a rush.

"What time is it?"

He glanced above her head toward the window. "Morning."

She smirked. "Oh, brilliant, professor."

He gave an exaggerated sigh and began to pull away ever so slightly. "Well, if you want me to check the clock…"

"No!" she exclaimed, grabbing hold of his arm and leaning in to kiss him. She saw his eyebrows go up in surprise as their lips met.

Ivy pulled away quickly, realizing how insecure that action must have seemed. She looked down bashfully and waited for him to say something.

But when she looked down she realized something else. "We don't have clothes or blankets."

"No, we don't," was his amused response.

She had expected him to get all embarrassed at that, and had been secretly hoping to even the ground between them. This was not normal. Not in the morning, not after what had happened last night. She was totally flustered and he was calm, sedate, and completely unabashed. She sounded needy and he was in control.

But she _was_ needy, dammit! And she had every right to be, didn't she? Just this once?

She looked up again, this time not feeling guilty about showing her anxiety. "Don't go into work today. Let's just stay here. Please."

He nodded again, uncomplicating everything with the ease of his body language, with his comfort in just lying there next to her. She was awed and at a loss to understand how everything had so suddenly changed.

"Remus…"

He hushed her, shaking his head gently. "You're confused," he said. It was a statement of fact, not a question.

She nodded.

"Don't be."

Her brow crinkled briefly in stunned bewilderment.

"There's nothing to be confused about," he told her. "I'm exactly where you wanted me. I'm here. I'm not so far away."

She fought back the urge to gape stupidly. She had been sure that he hadn't heard a word she had said that night on her birthday. But he had used her exact words. How had he managed that?

"I hear everything you say, even when I don't want to," he explained, reading her mind. "It's one of the more annoying affects you have on me."

She smiled. "I'll remember that next time you forget to do some chore that I remind you about five times."

He grinned back. "There you are. I was worried that you were in shock."

"I think that maybe I am. I don't know if my mind is capable of figuring out what happened last night. What it means for us."

"Oh, I've already given up on that one," he confessed. "Tried to work it all out while you were still asleep. But I don't think that we're supposed to know yet. Maybe we never will."

She thought that over for a moment. "Okay. I can live with that. So for now we just label it as 'mind-blowing sex' and file it away for future reference?"

He chuckled. "Yes, that sounds about right for now."

They both went quiet after a few seconds, and they both knew why.

"But that wasn't it," Ivy said assuredly.

"No, it wasn't."

"I've never felt anything like that."

"I think that's the idea of it. If it was like everything else then there would be no reason to do it."

"Figured that out all by yourself, did you?" Ivy teased.

Remus nodded mock sagely. "I did. With my very own unique brilliance." When her eyes began to glaze and she didn't respond, he used the hand clutching her hip to pull her closer. "Are you all right?"

She blinked a few times, then nodded slowly. "Yes, I just…. I wish you had told me what was wrong sooner. I feel like this happened because of the fight we had, and that makes me feel awful because I couldn't figure out what was wrong, and you didn't say anything after how hard we've been trying to make sure that we tell each other what we think – "

"I'm sorry," he said desperately, cutting her off before she had the chance to really weigh in on him again. "I know what happened was terrible, but I didn't realize my mistake at the time because everything was surfacing as… instinct…"

Ivy eyebrows went up in understanding. "You mean you felt that the wolf was doing the thinking about it, so you tried not to address it at all yourself."

He glanced away shamefully, realizing how cowardly he sounded when she put it that way. "Yes."

"And that was why you wanted to do this last night…" she continued, her expression turning wounded and mortified.

Remus removed both of his hands from where they rested beneath her head and at her waist so he could reach up and cup her face. "Look at me," he commanded.

His voice was too steady and piercing for her not to obey. She willed herself not to let her eyes well up – she didn't want him to see that.

"What happened last night did not happen because my mind was half gone or because I was reclaiming my territory," he said carefully. The words sounded horrid and cruel, but he knew that was what she was thinking. "This has needed to happen between us for a long time – "

Ivy snorted in disbelief. "How long?" she asked acerbically.

He ran a thumb gently across her bottom lip. The action startled her into looking back up.

"Since the first time I kissed you when we were seventeen years old," he told her, his voice tender and unwavering.

And Ivy's mind suddenly shot straight back in time, and she remembered that moment, how it had felt. She remembered how nervous she had been, how she had trembled, and how something so right had clicked in her head. And how they had laughed and brushed it off as an uncomfortable occurrence, forced on them by the powers that be…

The clinical part of her mind realized that it was really the first time that she had ever been physically aroused by someone; she could come to terms with that idea now that she was older. That sort of awakening could be a very potent feeling, and it never quite left. She wondered if it had been the same for him, but decided that now was not the time that she wanted to ask.

"That was a long time ago," she whispered.

And he nodded, more amused by the comment than saddened. "And that's how long we've needed this. That's how long we've waited."

Ivy had the grace to smirk. "We seem to be good at that."

"Yes, we do."

"How about we stop?"

Remus sighed heavily and leaned his head in toward hers. "Yes, I concur." His hand moved and started trailing down her side at a leisurely pace, tracing shapes and patterns that lingered in the back of his mind. He watched her close her eyes, lips curling in a tip-tilted smile as she hummed pleasurably in the back of her throat. "What now?" he asked, waiting to receive further orders as to how he would waste the day away in the comfort of their rooms.

Ivy's eyes snapped open and a hand went to her hair, threading through strands of red-gold. "Yeah, I'm going to take a shower, first thing."

The fingers that had been trickling down her thigh halted abruptly and snaked tightly around her waist. "You're going to leave me here alone?" he gasped in mock panic. "Why?"

Ivy's smile widened. She knew that some of that panic was real. It was comforting to know that she still had that affect. "I said that I was going to take a shower," she explained slowly, "I didn't say anything about taking one alone…"

Remus' eyes widened briefly before they changed shape, forming a predator's stare. Ivy's breath hitched as the transformation occurred. It was always fascinating to watch, especially because he was never consciously aware that he was doing it. "Well, that's something else entirely…"

They both sat up at the same, but Ivy winced harshly, her hand flying to her lower back. She quickly tried to hide the reaction, but Remus had already spotted it (no doubt he had heard it), and placed a careful hand on her shoulder.

"What is it, what's wrong?"

She managed a sardonic little smile. "Just a bit… sore." She could feel the color rising in her cheeks as she said it, and scolded herself for it. Shouldn't she be beyond embarrassment at this point?

But then again, he was no better. Once the realization of what she had said hit him, he gave a short, sheepish laugh and glanced down at the floor. He quickly realized that his eyes weren't supposed to be there at that moment, and they flew back up to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry…" he began, and then he really started laughing, mainly because of the incredulous look she was giving him. "Oh, that's such an inadequate and pointless thing to say," he decided, reaching forward and gathering her to him.

Ivy let herself be pulled into his arms, looping her own around his neck. "Yes, it is," she agreed. "Because you're not sorry, and I know I'm not sorry…"

"All right, all right – we've already established how terrible I am at knowing how to say what I mean when you're not clothed," he reminded her, his hands moving down to her lower back, rubbing where it ached.

"Yes, we do know that," she agreed. "Ow! Oh, yeah, just there – " she said with a grimace, indicating that he had hit a tender spot.

Remus pressed his fingers in harder where they had been rubbing near her spine, eliciting a painful groan from his wife, but he continued moving in circles, working out the tense area. He had to stop himself from apologizing again.

"Are you going to be all right?" was what he finally said.

"We'll see what happens when I try to walk," she answered, half laughing. At that, she stopped his hands by touching her fingers to his arms, and stood up. Remus followed, watching Ivy stretch up to the ceiling and behind her in an effort to loosen some of the pain away. He got behind her, smiling, and pressed a kiss into the back of her shoulder.

She tilted her head back, looking him up and down, and noticed that his body was definitely awake now. "Am I going to have to make it a cold shower?" she taunted.

"Then what would be the point of bringing me in with you?" he reasoned, wrapping his arms around her nude form and playfully pulling her back into him. "Besides, I'm not the one who decided to stretch and show off like that."

Ivy gently slapped at the arms holding her prisoner. "Back, demon of sin! Let go of me and trouble me no more!" she cried melodramatically.

"Now, you of all people should know that struggling only makes the game more enjoyable for demons," Remus whispered to her in a singsong voice.

Ivy gasped, mock scandalized, and managed to twist out of his grip. She rushed toward the bathroom.

"Lecher," she tossed over her shoulder.

"Tease," he shot back.

At that accusation she turned in the doorway to face him, eyes sparkling, smile playing too easily on her lips. "Are you coming?"

"Of course."

They both disappeared into the bathroom for a long time. Sounds of giggling, shouting, and cooing could be heard. Finally, Remus emerged with a towel around his waist and a smaller one in his hand, which he used to dry his hair.

"My eyes still sting, you vicious woman!" he scolded with a grin.

"Oh, come on, it was so funny, I couldn't resist!" called a voice from inside the bathroom.

"You rubbed soap in my eyes!" he cried in vehement shock.

"Yeah, and it was hilarious!" she laughed. "Besides, you're all clean now. Stop being such a baby."

He glanced back toward the bathroom incredulously, trying to catch a glimpse of her by looking at the mirror in there, but the glass was too fogged up for him to see anything. "I'm a baby? That's what we're calling me now? Not an idiot, not lecherous, just a baby?"

She finally came out, wrapped in a towel, and planted a kiss on his damp cheek. "Hush you." She took the towel that he was drying his hair with and carefully wiped his eyes with it. "There. No more stinging?"

He snatched the towel back from her. "Very funny." Then he tugged on a soggy strand of her hair to pull her face closer and looked down at the purple towel that she had wrapped herself in, a devilish glint in his eye. "I don't know if it's a good idea for us to stay up here all day…"

"Why not?" Ivy pouted.

He twisted the lock of soaked hair around his index finger. "Because my mind is getting creative all of a sudden, and I'm starting to think of all sorts of unsightly things I can do to you now that we're alone for the day."

She smiled slyly and leaned into him. "Such as?"

There was a knock at the door.

Remus winced and Ivy's eyes went icy in a nanosecond. If the look had been directed at him, he would have been afraid.

"Who the hell - ?" she started, spinning around and glancing outside their bedroom at the front door. "You get it."

"Me? I don't have any clothes on!"

"Neither do I," Ivy reasoned, "and it's a woman's prerogative to take longer dressing. So you answer the door."

There was another knock. "Coming," Remus called. Ivy smiled at him and went back into the bathroom.

Remus hurried over to his dresser and pulled out a clean pair of trousers. He put them on quickly, and heard another urgent knock on the door. Didn't they know what the word "coming" meant?

But since the knock sounded so insistent, Remus decided that he would go answer the door without putting on a shirt. The person would just have to deal with it. After all, it wasn't his fault that they couldn't wait a few seconds for him to get fully dressed.

So he walked to the door, opened it, and found a very distressed Clayton Lee Wilcott on the other side. The man seemed even more shocked to find Remus at the door only half-dressed.

"Uh…" Clayton started, clearly trying to reorganize his thoughts now that the wrong person was in front of him.

Remus folded his arms across his chest. Oh, the amount of power he now held in this situation made him feel twice as tall. He really didn't have to worry about this one anymore. He never really did, in fact, as Ivy had pointed out last night.

The door wasn't all the way open, and at that moment Ivy decided to come out in her bathrobe and stow herself on the other side of the door, where she wouldn't be seen. She probably thought it was Minerva, and had hidden so that she wouldn't have to talk to her. Remus' eyes shifted toward her subtly, and he saw her mouth the words, "_who is it?_"

Remus didn't want to let Clayton know that Ivy was hiding behind the door, so he found another way to get it across.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Wilcott?"

He saw Ivy smack a hand to her forehead out of the corner of his eye.

"Is Ivy here?" the Texan asked unsurely.

Remus again glanced carefully to the other side of the door where he saw Ivy violently shaking her head '_no_'.

"I'm afraid she isn't," Remus answered for her, trying as best he could to not give her away by smiling.

Clayton finally regained his footing and glared at him shrewdly. "Oh, that's right, you two hadda fight the other day…"

At this information, Remus faltered. "How did you - ?"

"Well, a lotta the students saw ya coming back from Hogsmeade," Clayton explained, suddenly acting superior. "They said ya both looked mad as hornets at each other. They were all talkin' about it at suppertime…. Sounded like a pretty big fight, I was worried…"

_I'm sure you were…_ Remus thought angrily. But he stopped, reminding himself that Clayton was no threat to him, and that Ivy was probably waiting for him to end this conversation quickly.

So he smiled in a sickening sort of way and shook his head as though Clayton was greatly amusing to him. "Oh no, we actually sorted everything out last night. All better, fight resolved. Not that it's anyone's business, of course, but seeing as you were so worried…"

"So she's not there?" Clayton asked again, clearly disappointed that they were all right, and wanting to end their discussion soon. "Because we were suppose' ta go over the files that were sent to us by Durmstrang today. She wanted my help."

"Well, she's…" Remus glanced over to where Ivy was waiting impatiently, "… indisposed."

The smile on his face clearly gave him away because Clayton looked him over suspiciously. Ivy found it amusing too because she started laughing into her hand. She hadn't closed her robe, and without her hands holding it shut, it fell open, showing Remus a glimpse that was decidedly unhelpful when he was trying to focus on a conversation with another person.

"Wait a minute…" Clayton said, watching Remus' eyes and attempting to put some pieces together. "She's not behind the door, is she?"

Remus was feeling far too smug to lie completely. He glanced up at the ceiling as though he was thinking very hard. "…Well, if she was, she'd be naked."

Clayton's eyes widened, and Remus could swear that the Texan seemed angry at what that clearly intimated. Ivy on the other hand was caught between laughing and screaming, and she glared wildly at him, mouthing the words, "_you bastard_", and quickly tying her robe shut.

Remus took advantage of the fact that Clayton was speechless by straightening up and giving him the cover story. "I'm afraid she's ill, and she doesn't want to go see Madam Pomfrey because she's afraid of how contagious she seems to be. I will be taking care of her, seeing as I have already been exposed. Could you make sure that the staff know that we will not be available today? And get a sub for my classes?"

"I – "

"Thank you so much," Remus said kindly, shutting the door in the Texan's face.

He and Ivy waited for the sound of her office door closing before they made a single noise.

Ivy burst out in hysterics. "You son of a – my God, I'm going to kill you! Kill you! You sneaky, self-satisfied, arrogant – "

But she never did get to finish because Remus pushed her up against the wall and snaked his tongue between her parted, shocked lips.

Ivy was well aware of what had caused this. She knew a pissing contest when she saw one (or heard one for that matter), and he had just won a big one. _Nothing like that boost of testosterone and assertion of ownership to make one feel virile and in need of a good shag…_ She could even hear him growling in the back of his throat, making her eyes involuntarily roll up…

"Okay, you," Ivy said, managing to push him back a little, "we all got it. You're the alpha male, you have beaten the pup back into his rightful place. Feel better now?"

Remus pushed away from the wall a bit, but kept his hands planted on either side of her head. He wasn't planning on letting her slip away, apparently. "Yes, I feel thoroughly invigorated and unashamed about it." His voice dropped to a whisper. "So why don't you get in bed and let me take you the way I've wanted to since we were students here?"

Ivy blinked in puzzlement, though she felt her skin begin to tingle at the pitch and suggestion in his voice. "But you never thought of me that way when we were… I mean, you never – "

"Subconscious mind is a funny thing," he said with a wicked smile, his hand running down the collar of her bathrobe. "You have absolutely no control over it."

"You mean you dreamed of having sex with me when we were younger?" Ivy asked in astonishment. "And you never told me?"

"Wouldn't have been appropriate," he explained, shrugging. "Besides, I was horrified with myself when I had dreams like that. I couldn't believe that some part of my mind thought on that level; it was terrifying."

Ivy could understand. It was a little frightening at that age to dream about things that you hadn't experienced, and knowing him the way she did, he was probably scared out of his wits when it happened. After all, he had been appalled when he had cornered her during their performance of _Jekyll and Hyde_ – and nothing had even really happened then. But still…

"What were your dreams like?" Ivy asked in a lascivious tone. "Did I live up to your expectations?"

Remus chuckled deep in his throat. "Oh, I'd say you did more than that. After all, the dreams I had were a bit naïve…"

His mouth dipped down to the base of her neck where he started kissing and licking his way upward. Ivy almost gave in, but she was having too much fun.

"Wait a minute! I only said that we were going to spend the day together. I thought we could just sit on the couch and read and have some tea, I didn't say anything about this."

Remus nipped at her jaw before groaning the words, "Not… funny…"

"No, really," she continued with mock conservativeness, halfheartedly trying to pry him off, "I don't think you understand. Today we were just going to spend the day as real equals – "

"Not funny…" he interjected again, his mouth latching onto her earlobe.

" – in each other's company, enjoying each other's presence – "

"Which we can do _in bed_," Remus insisted, trying to move her toward their room.

"Now, Remus, I really don't know if I can allow that after the scandalous confession you made – "

"_Bed_."

She laughed, but wouldn't budge an inch.

Remus smirked. "Unless, of course, you want to get Mr. Wilcott back in here, and we can see how he fares…"

Ivy's eyes widened at the unthinkable statement he had just dared to utter, and she smacked him on the chest with the back of her hand. Seeing as Remus had no shirt on, the slap was actually quite painful, and when he winced, Ivy gasped and said "sorry!" instantly. He smiled at her guilt, and she smiled back, leaning into him and placing her hands on his chest.

"So what sort of 'unsightly things' were you thinking of doing to me before we were interrupted?" she asked lightly. Her fingers were tracing one of the scars on his chest lovingly, as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. Remus was struck by the gesture, the way she could turn his painful defects into something treasured and adored. The way she made him feel new, which was better than feeling young.

It made him feel like he could take on the world and come out unscathed from every tragedy.

So he tilted his head down to her ear and whispered the answer to her question.

And then he pulled back in time see her eyes darken brilliantly.

Ivy grabbed Remus by the waist of his trousers and pulled him into the bedroom. They did not leave their bed that day.

* * *

There we are! I hope you're sufficiently fluffed out, because there's some crazy dramatic stuff going down in the next chapter. Beware for angst, but also a surprise that I think you'll really like ;D And please review, you know how it makes me squee deep down in my fangirl heart…. 


	11. Devestation, Miracles, and Death

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm really sorry everyone. Real life took a nasty turn for me recently, and I completely forgot to keep up with things. Everything is better now, however, so I bring you a new chapter. I like to think that this chapter makes up for being late because a lot of fabulous things happen in it. And some not so great ones too, because you know me and angst…. But it's still happy! Does that make up for it? No?

Well, how about this: the next chapter will be posted either on, or a couple days before my birthday on August 6th (because I'm a dork and put up chapters for you as a birthday present to me. Because I love you all so very much). Which means that your next chapter comes in less than two weeks! How's that?

Also, I'm very sorry I haven't responded to all the reviews. As I said, life kicked me in the stomach and I got behind. If you asked a question that I didn't answer, say it again in your next review and I will respond. If you emailed me your review, feel free to do it again! I never tire of hearing from all of you. Really and truly.

Oh, and to answer a question that seems to be coming up a lot: No, Sirius and Gwen are not getting together in this chapter. You know me, people! I like making you wait for it. wink

Enough with my lame excuses, on to chaptery goodness!

* * *

_**Chapter Eleven – Devastation, Miracles, and Death**_

A few months had passed. They were now in the thick of winter, and students were coming back from their Christmas break. January was the cause for warm fires, thick coats, and enough snow to build fortresses all over the grounds. Hagrid was very pleased when he found Harry and Ginny building one right outside his house to defend themselves from some of Ginny's classmates. Sirius snuck up on them and mashed a huge handful of snow into Harry's hair, which made Ginny laugh so hard that she slipped and fell into the bank behind her. She decided to make snow angels instead, and Harry joined her.

Clayton was still at the school, but Ivy didn't spend as much time with him, instead giving him the projects she needed done and letting him take care of things himself. When she needed extra help, she would ask Remus, who was more than happy to oblige. She told Remus that she wouldn't send Clayton home, as he still needed training to run his school, but she didn't get upset when the two glared at each other, or when Remus made barely disguised insidious comments in the Texan's direction. Clayton was taking the treatment with a scowl and as many indirect insults that he could think to dish back.

Sirius and Guinevere still ate dinner together every Friday. Really they ate together more often than that, as Guinevere had taken to calling Sirius up whenever she made too much food. She seemed to make too much food more and more frequently. Bruce visited Sirius as often as he did his sister, and the two had become good friends, which was helpful when Guinevere was being particularly difficult. Guinevere and Sirius still fought on a regular basis, although their arguments were not as cruel as they had been before. He went grocery shopping with her every other week, and absolutely refused to admit that their situation had become quite comfortable.

Severus was having a lot of progress with Draco now. Though the young man was far from personable, he had become much easier to handle, and finally started taking on some real responsibility. He assisted Severus in class, and could even be seen helping students with their work while they mixed their potions, although he tried his very best to make it look like the job irked him.

Everything seemed to be going fine since all of the hysteria October had brought down on them. The protestors had continued their rallies, but Ivy had managed to use some contacts and keep them away from the school. Only one incident had threatened to destroy the peace…

It was in December, and everyone had been getting ready to go home, as Christmas break was approaching fast. Remus and Sirius were walking outside in the bitter cold, as Remus had just been down to talk to Hagrid about some of the magical creatures he was using. He needed to know whether or not they could do a few joint lessons, so that Ivy could be sure that the students could handle the beasts. Sirius had dropped by with Harry as usual, and decided to go visit Hagrid with him.

On their way back, Sirius looked up and checked the darkening sky.

"The moon's going to be up soon. We better hurry or you won't make it to your office for your transformation."

Remus glanced upward. "I was afraid of that. Oh well, it's too late, the moon will be up before we can get back. You'll just have to sneak me up to my office after I transform, Ivy will help you. She's probably frantic by now, wondering why we aren't back yet."

Sirius smiled and followed his friend back toward the main doors. As they got closer, they saw the doors open, and sure enough, Ivy stepped out looking anxious.

"There you are!" she called out. "Hurry up and get inside, you shouldn't transform out here when it's so cold!"

"It's going to happen any second, Ivy, there's no point in – " Remus suddenly stopped, grabbing hold of Sirius' arm.

"Padfoot…"

Sirius put a hand on his shoulder in confusion. "What is it, Moony?

"Something's wrong…" Remus said slowly.

The moon crept up behind them like a thief.

"Is it pain? What is it, you have to be more specific," Sirius asked in a frenzy. Many terrible things had happened in their lives after Remus had uttered the words "something's wrong". They always hit Sirius like oracle premonitions and soothsayer's warnings.

Remus hunched over as his spine began to crunch, biting back a scream, as years of transformations had allowed him to do. Sirius bent over to see yellow eyes staring back.

"Remus…?"

"The Wolfsbane Potion," Remus whispered. "I don't think it's working, Sirius…"

Sirius' eyes widened and he backed away a step. He saw Remus' eyes look pleadingly toward the door, where his wife was waiting patiently, her face etched with sadness. She wasn't used to seeing him transform, and it wrenched her insides when she heard bones crack over the harsh winter air.

"Ivy…" Sirius started, looking to her in panic.

She could read the look on Sirius' face easily enough. "What's wrong, Sirius? Is he okay?"

She took an instinctual step forward. At that moment, Remus let out a snarl, fur sprouting on his arms and face.

"_Ivy, get back!_" Sirius commanded.

"What's wrong?" Ivy cried.

"_Back!_"

Sirius turned to his friend, pulling him up by the sleeves of his coat. "Moony, can you hear me?"

Remus' clothes were ripped apart at the seams and he was not responding. He raised his head to Sirius, his golden-yellow eyes full of bloodlust and fury.

"Get inside!" Sirius shouted to Ivy. "I'll get him to the Forbidden Forest!"

She was in shock, but thankfully did as she was told. Before Remus was fully transformed, Sirius turned into his Animagus form and made a mad dash toward the forest, knowing that the wolf would follow. He ran an intricate path among the dense foliage and snow, and when he was sure that the wolf was in the forest, he gave him the slip and ran back to the castle. Only at the door did he change back, finding Ivy waiting frantically on the other side.

As he closed the door behind him, he heard a howl.

"What happened, Sirius?" Ivy asked immediately, grabbing hold of his arm as though he could somehow ground her.

Sirius tried his best to catch his breath, still gasping from the run and the cold. "Wolfsbane Potion… it wasn't working…. I had to get him to the forest…. Everyone in the school will be safe as long as they stay inside…"

Ivy turned on her heel and started walking back toward the staircases. "We have to talk to Severus," she stated hurriedly. Sirius followed her down to the dungeons.

Ivy burst through Severus' office door without any sort of announcement, which the Potions Master found extremely rude.

"Headmistress, haven't you ever heard of knoc– "

"The Wolfsbane Potion didn't work, Severus."

Snape was on his feet instantly. "What do you mean?"

"He didn't keep his mind when he transformed. Sirius had to herd him into the Forbidden Forest."

Snape paled, if that were possible. "He wasn't near any of the students…"

"No," Ivy sighed. "He didn't get to anyone. But I need you to tell me why this happened."

Snape, for once in his life, was at a loss for words. "Nothing should have happened," he said quietly. "The potion was brewed the same way I always brew it."

"Do you have a sample left?" Sirius asked impatiently.

Severus nodded. "Yes, the cauldron hasn't been emptied yet."

Ivy's jaw set. "All right. Good. Severus, you are going to analyze that potion and find out why this happened." She pulled out her wand and headed back the way she had come.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.

She turned back once she had reached the door. "To find my husband."

"Ivy – "

Headmistress – "

But Ivy was not in the mood to discuss everything she already knew about werewolves in their transformed states. "I know he won't recognize me, so spare me the lecture. Perhaps you both have forgotten that there have been protestors focusing their attentions on this school. For all we know, they could have spies or even werewolf hunters in those woods. We have to get him back here, or at least to the Shrieking Shack. If we get out to him, we can stun him heavily or try to use body-binding charms, but leaving him out there for the night is not an option."

"I should be the one to go, Headmistress," Severus reasoned.

"No, Severus," Ivy cut in, not giving him the chance to tell her why. "I need you here figuring out what went wrong with that potion."

She quickly left the room, not giving him another chance to speak.

Sirius was following closely at her heels. "Ivy – "

"Go get Hagrid, Argus, Minerva, and anyone else who might be useful."

"I'm not letting you go out there alo– "

"No time to argue. If we find him, we will send up green sparks with our wands, red if we're in trouble."

"_If?_" Sirius gaped. "Ivy, coming into contact with a full grown werewolf is always dangerous, even if he's stunned or body-bound. We should all be in pairs, at least."

"Fine. Go in pairs and catch up to me."

Sirius grabbed Ivy by the shoulder and spun her around to face him.

"You can't go out there alone."

Ivy's gaze had turned alarmingly cold. "Last time I checked, I was in charge of what happened within these grounds. Now do as I ask, or don't help me at all, but I'm going to find Remus as soon as possible."

Sirius let her go against every instinct he possessed. Fighting with her would turn the whole situation ugly very fast, and likely get them both killed. So he separated from her, racing to get the people she had mentioned.

Ivy was walking through the forest, thankful for the trees shielding her somewhat against the chilling winds. She had her wand lit, winding around roots and shrubs and trying to look carefully so she wouldn't get snuck up on. She knew she hadn't been out there for more than twenty minutes, but it felt like an hour.

Something cracked behind her, and she jumped in midair, whirling around to see where the noise came from. She found nothing.

A howl sounded far away. She sighed knowing that he had to be somewhere else, and at the same time felt ashamed. She didn't like to admit that she was scared of finding him like this. Scared of what it would feel like when he looked at her and didn't know her.

And then she heard a low growl very close by.

Turning to her side, she found a large werewolf with teeth sharper and harder than cracked diamonds. The fur on the back of his neck was standing up and he was staring her down like she was nothing more than a fragile doe. Golden eyes flashed in the dimmed moonlight as he stalked closer and closer…

Ivy was frozen to the spot.

The werewolf shifted back onto his hind legs. Ivy knew from textbooks that this meant he was ready to strike. The danger was so real, and yet her mind kept telling her _it can't happened like this, not this way…_

And just as it seemed that she would be mauled to death by a man who had told her that he loved her only two hours ago, something strange happened. The werewolf paused, his nose going up in the air. He sniffed carefully and his front legs fell back to the ground. He started to circle her cautiously, his nose out, brushing against her hand, her foot, her stomach. Ivy trembled, barely daring to breathe.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_

The werewolf went stiff as a board and fell on his side.

Sirius rushed to Ivy, Hagrid in his wake.

"My God, you could have been killed!" he scolded, more out of fear for her than anger. He started checking her over for any signs of injury. "Did he hurt you? Did he bite you?"

She shook her head. "No…. He was just… smelling me…. I don't understand. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeh should be dead, Ms. Dumbledore," Hagrid clarified. "It don't make any sense ter me."

"He's right," Sirius told her. "Now, let's get him into one of the empty dungeon classrooms. We can fortify the door and he won't escape…. He is not going to be happy when this charm wears off."

Sirius magicked the werewolf onto a stretcher and they got him into the castle as quickly and quietly as possible. Ivy and Minerva were sealing the doors as they heard the wolf inside begin to stir. By the time they were done they heard the sound of a body smashing up against the door and vicious howling. Snarling and growling were added to the mix as well as ripping sounds that only Sirius could identify. Ivy turned away and buried her head in Sirius' shoulder as the noises got louder.

"It's okay," Sirius hushed. "He's done worse, far worse. He's just upset because he's alone and he doesn't know where he is. He'll be a little beat up tomorrow and we'll take him to the hospital wing. But you should get some sleep tonight."

Ivy wished it were that simple. She went up to her office in a dazed panic, knowing somehow that this incident had much worse implications than anyone thought. Sitting at her desk, she went through paperwork until she had dozed off many hours later, waking up only when the door to her office opened.

Severus approached her, disheveled and worn, and Ivy could tell that he had not slept a wink all night. She checked her clock – it was six in the morning. He had been working for over eleven straight hours.

He held out a vial to her containing something so small that Ivy had to strain her eyes to see it.

"Severus, what am I looking at?"

Severus' eyes narrowed angrily. "Five grains of sugar."

Ivy took a moment to let it register. _Sugar._

"How did you find it?" she asked, astonished.

"I used a reversion spell. It's complicated to work, but it pulls out potion ingredients in their original state. It would have been easier to do if I had tried it right after the potion had been brewed, the only reason it took so long was that the ingredients had had time to settle. I apologize for the delay, Headmistress – "

She waved off the apology, looking intently at the vial. "Sugar makes it useless…"

"Undoubtedly, Headmistress. Your husband has complained about that on occasion."

"How did it get in there?"

At this, Severus' spine stiffened sharply, the guilt on his face making Ivy far more worried than she would have been from anything he could have said.

"I…. I don't know, Headmistress. I don't keep any sugar near my cauldrons or in the storerooms. I never keep any ingredient nearby that can damage that potion in particular, and I promise you that I brewed it exactly the way that I always do."

Ivy shook her head, running a hand across her tired eyes. "No one is accusing you of causing this, Severus. I know how meticulous you are, and I know that you would never allow anything to happen in this school that could potentially harm the students. What I need to know is _what happened_."

He nodded heavily, looking just as tired and dismayed as Ivy felt. "I understand, Headmistress. I will continue to look into this problem and I will give you regular reports back. And I will check each batch of Wolfsbane Potion from now on to make sure that no damaging ingredients are present."

Ivy sighed, knowing how much extra work this would be for her Potions Master. Still, he was the only one to do it. "Thank you, Severus."

Snape turned around and left, but Ivy had no time to process their conversation. Not even a minute later, Sirius came barging through the door. "He's awake, he wants to talk to you."

Ivy leapt up and followed Sirius out.

"He was not happy when he found out what happened last night."

Ivy grimaced in frustration. "Well, who told him?"

"He asked, Ivy, I wasn't going to lie to him. It would have made him even more angry, and that's not what he needs to be with the state he's in."

"How badly is he hurt?" she asked instantly.

"Madam Pomfrey will only take care of him today, unless the students have bad enough injuries that they require her assistance," was Sirius' indirect but horrifying answer. "Severus and Minerva are there right now, trying to fill him in on what seems to have happened with the potion."

When Ivy got to the Hospital Wing, she found Remus out of bed, which alone made her gasp. Then she got a full look at him and wanted to faint.

Remus' right eye had blood in it and he was shifted favorably onto his right leg, as though the left one was painful to put weight on. There was thick bandaging wrapped from his left shoulder all the way down around his chest, and his other shoulder looked swollen and discolored as though he had dislocated it and it had only recently been put back in its place. Claw marks ran up and down his arms, as well as one deep set that ran from underneath his ear, all the way across his neck. Blood had matted his hair above his left temple, and there was blood trickling down his leg somewhere from the thigh, staining the trousers he had been given to wear.

But when he saw Ivy, he didn't collapse against the bed behind him and sigh in relief. Nor did he call her gently over to him and hug her tightly. Instead, as Ivy began to scold him for being out of bed, he strode over to her, fury in his face, grabbed her by both of his injured arms and shook her like a rag doll.

"_What the hell were you thinking?_" he shouted, his voice ringing off the high walls of the wing.

He was shaking her so hard that Ivy's neck snapped back painfully, and she could only gape at him in shock. She couldn't understand where his strength was coming from, not with how ghastly the injuries looked and yet he was shaking her fiercely, so angry that she couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

"Why would you do that" he growled violently. "Why?"

"I…" Ivy stammered. Her brain was going hazy and her stomach fluttered fearfully. Everything suddenly took on a surreal sheen. Colors seemed over bright, there was ringing in her ears, the presence of others in the room was suffocating her. _Why is he so angry?_

"_Why?_" he screamed again, and she cowered back from him, unable to escape because his grip was too strong.

"Stop…" she managed to whisper, her eyes shifting to the ceiling as though it were a prayer.

"Everyone tried to stop you, and still you wouldn't listen!" he shouted. "You should have _died_ last night! Do you understand? I would have _killed you!_"

Ivy felt very small and very frightened. She wanted to run away or collapse, anything to stop her from seeing him like this. He had never been this angry, never in all the years she had known him. Even when he had forced her from his house before they had stopped speaking all those years ago, he had not been this furious.

"I had to – "

"_What?_" he cut her off, pulling her around and jamming her up against the hospital bed behind him. "You had to what? You had to do something suicidal for my benefit? You couldn't wait for Sirius, or _anyone_ to go with you?"

"You were – "

"What if I hadn't killed you?" he now shouted. "What if I had bitten you instead? You have absolutely no idea what this is!" He shook his head incredulously, unable to stop, completely hysterical. "Oh, yes, you can accept me for who I am, marry me, swear that you'll spend the rest of your life with me, but you still don't understand _what this is!_ If you did, you would have never taken the risk! You don't know the pain, and the fear, and the worry, and – _my God, do you know what would have happened if you had been bitten?_"

Sirius took a step back from the stupor that he plunged into as soon as Remus had opened his mouth. It twisted his insides up, it made him feel ill. He wanted to step in on Ivy's behalf, seeing the shock on her face. She was scared out of her mind. But then Sirius realized that he had to let it alone. He had certainly never seen Remus this enraged before, but his friend clearly needed to do this. It was years of pent up anxiety, and this time they had come so close…

"I – " Ivy tried frantically once again.

"I would rather_ die _than ever have you go through this! _This is a curse, do you understand?_"

"Remus, please – "

A hand went to the back of Ivy's neck and he pulled her face toward his, grip so tight that her head began to hurt from the pressure. "I have spent my entire life trying to rid myself of this. From even the remotest possibility that this could happen," he hissed harshly. "I fight against it every day, it haunts me in every moment, waking or not. What happened last night was like something out of my nightmares. _What right do you have to make me live through those?_"

And Ivy could see it. She could see the bottoms of his eyes glistening, she could feel him trembling, and she realized that he was far more scared than she was.

"Remus…" she started, finally getting the chance to speak, her voice quaking with the onset of tears. "I had to get you out of the forest. There could have been hunters in there, or…"

"You had no reason," he rejoined angrily. "No excuses."

Ivy pleaded with him without words. He had to understand why she had gone, why she was afraid for him every day now…

"Remus, I couldn't leave you out there when…"

His hand went to her check, his eyes losing the spark that had driven him through his whole tirade. "If I had – if I – "

But he couldn't finish. He pulled her fast to him and buried his head in her shoulder, his arms winding around her like a vice, his chest heaving erratically as he began sobbing into her hair. Ivy dug her fingers into his back. He never cried, not really. Not ever.

But she could feel tears soaking her shoulder now.

"I can't lose you," he whispered. "I just can't…. I don't care if it's selfish, it would kill me…"

"I'm selfish too," she told him quietly, her hand gently stroking the back of his head, the way she would calm a child. She felt tears spilling down her own cheeks as well, which thankfully cleared her painfully blurry vision. "If I weren't selfish, I would have never gone out after you like that. I'm sorry, I understand now, I swear."

"Never again…"

"No, never."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Can't lose you that way after everything that we – "

"I know."

She felt him sag against her, and realized that he had used up far too much energy through this whole ordeal. He was a mess, he needed to rest. So she moved away from the bed and pushed him onto it. He didn't argue or complain, he didn't even make a sound, but he wouldn't let go of her hand once she had pulled up the blankets.

So she got onto the bed with him and laid down on her side, facing him. He managed the smallest of sighs and closed his eyes, finally calmed and feeling the true extent of his fatigue. Ivy looked up briefly at Madam Pomfrey to make sure that it was okay for her to be there, but the woman smiled and quickly left them to attend to other problems. Everyone else left silently, knowing that none of this was any of their business. Sirius crept up briefly at Ivy's side and squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. Ivy looked up at him and smiled, letting him know that she could handle everything from there.

He closed the door of the wing behind him, leaving them alone.

"You're going to let me heal some of this, aren't you?" Ivy asked after a minute of silence. There was a great deal of trepidation in her voice – she didn't want to get him upset again, but she had to know if he would let her.

He opened his eyes halfway. "I feel better just by having you here."

"I know, but – "

"If it's what you want."

Ivy trailed her hand along his neck where he had scratched so deeply, gold light spreading from her fingertips as the blood disappeared and the wound closed itself. Remus breathed deeply at the feeling of melted butter running through his veins, like hot cider on fall afternoons.

Ivy shook off the stinging feeling that she felt, the echo of his pain, and touched a finger to his chin. "One at a time," she decided.

He nodded in agreement and closed his eyes again. Ivy followed in suit and they both fell asleep to the sound of snow falling outside.

* * *

That incident in December was now just a grey memory, one that no one lingered on for fear that Remus Lupin's eyes would dim. He was shocked with himself for what he had said, and so everyone allowed him to pretend he hadn't said anything.

Except Ivy and Sirius. It was too important for them to ignore.

And Remus was glad to find that it didn't bother him so much. Perhaps they had needed to know for a long time, and he found that he could handle that. He could give them that piece and trust that they would lock it away and never tell a soul.

But they would always know.

Remus' last transformation had gone by without a hitch. The Wolfsbane Potion worked this time, although he had insisted on being in the Shrieking Shack for the transformation, just in case, despite Severus' assurances that nothing could go wrong. Sirius decided that he would stay with Remus this time, just in case, as Charlie was now getting the Wolfsbane Potion himself, and he was already on his fifth transformation.

Ivy was excited for the return of the students. Winter break at Hogwarts could be very cold and empty, and she was looking forward to having so many warm bodies in the building again. She eagerly met with each professor to discuss their syllabus for the rest of the year, making sure that Clayton dutifully took notes for himself on what was talked over.

The stone walls were now filled with chatter, and clothing trunks were hastily carried to dorm rooms by faithful house elves. Everyone was thrilled to be back, even with the threat of exams and their incredible workload. They were all just happy to be together again. That was what made Ivy love her school so much.

And now they were waiting for a guest. After all, Remus had promised that he would get the chance to see the castle. He and Ivy waited at the door as Sirius walked past the gate and onto the grounds, accompanied by a smaller figure to his right.

"Is that him?" Ivy asked, smiling.

"No, Ivy, it's the invisible one on his left."

She smacked him in the arm. "Jerk."

Remus made a face –

" – And no fake wincing like I hurt you. I know that you have no bruises or scratches on that arm from the transformation last week."

"… Damn." He smirked at her. "You're getting too good at this."

"I'm your wife," she reminded him smugly, "I better know when you're faking."

Remus gaped at what she had just intimated, and pointed to the two figures steadily approaching. "There is a small child coming here, can I count on you to behave yourself? Or are you feeling particularly wicked today for no apparent reason?"

Her fingers sneakily threaded between his, her cold hand pressing into his warm palm. "I only get wicked when you get cheeky."

He laughed. "Fair enough. I will refrain from cheeky comments, if you promise to conduct yourself in a proper manner."

"Control freak."

"Unprincipled harlot."

"Stuck-up bookworm."

"Egocentric diva."

"Sycophantic cretin."

Remus side-glanced her, the right corner of his mouth tilting upward. "Do you even know what that means?"

Ivy thumped him in the arm again, and he chuckled.

"What are you two arguing about up there?" Sirius called, now much closer.

"Nothing," they called in unison, both grinning. Remus gave Ivy's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Well, you both better be in good moods today," Sirius warned jokingly, "because this young man has been dying to get a glimpse of this place."

They finally reached the top step, where Sirius made introductions. "All right, Charlie, so here we are at the front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You already know Remus, who's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher here, and this is Ivy Dumbledore, the Headmistress."

"Pleased to meet you," Charlie said instantly with a smile.

Ivy's eyes twinkled. "Hi Charlie. I'm glad you've come to visit us, I've heard so much about you."

"I was afraid I wasn't going to make it."

Ivy raised a questioning eyebrow.

"My mum made such a fuss about my going without her," Charlie explained.

Ivy nearly laughed at the precocious nature of the child. She understood what Remus and Sirius seemed to enjoy about the boy. "Well then, let's not misuse our time. You managed to get here, now it's our job to make sure that the day isn't wasted."

She opened the doors and beckoned everyone after her. Sirius followed immediately, but Charlie tugged on Remus' sleeve, holding him back for a moment.

"Yes, Charlie?"

"She's your wife, isn't she? Sirius told me that your wife was the headmistress."

Remus nodded. "Yes, she is."

Charlie tilted his head as he looked at her. "She's very pretty."

Remus smiled. "Well, thank you." He put a hand on Charlie's back and gently led him inside.

Ivy showed him all the main areas of the school that she would have given anyone on the essential tour. The Great Hall, the library (Charlie's eyes had gone wide with excitement and Ivy found the look all too familiar), the Astronomy Tower, the owlery, and a good window to see the Quidditch Pitch by.

Then she started taking him to see certain classrooms, even though some of them had classes in session. Taking him to the dungeons had been quite a trip, what with Severus' dismayed look, angry twitching, and insistence that they "get that child out of here at once before he injures himself, and _good God_, get him away from that cauldron".

Remus paused the tour by tapping his wife on the shoulder. "I have to – "

Ivy glanced around and finally found a clock at the end of the hall. "Oh, yeah, you really do have to go, sorry, I lost track of time…"

She noticed that Charlie looked a little crestfallen that Remus was leaving, and suddenly had a great idea. "Why don't you take Charlie with you? I'm sure he'd love to see you teach a class."

Charlie looked ecstatic at the idea, and Remus just couldn't say no. "All right. I hope it won't be too boring for you…"

"No, it sounds really great, I'd love to go!"

Remus nodded, and motioned for Charlie to follow him. Charlie briefly glanced around to see if Sirius would follow, but Sirius shook his head. "You go on, don't worry. I aced that subject and I'm pretty sure that Remus teaching it would put me to sleep – " He grinned at the glare that Remus shot him. " – but you go have fun. We'll catch up with you later."

Charlie nodded enthusiastically and bounded down the hall after Remus. The two of them were in deep conversation by the time they turned the corner.

Sirius watched them go in amazement. "He's so incredible with children…"

Ivy nodded knowingly. "I'd say he's the best balanced here, as far as the staff are concerned. The students respect him without feeling intimidated by him."

"I don't just mean that," Sirius corrected, looking back at her. "He's just amazing with all children. He's got that calming affect going for him, I guess…"

Ivy laughed a little to herself. "So are you, you know. Good with children, I mean."

Sirius waved a disaffected hand at her. "That's just because I'm a big kid myself, everybody knows that."

"Charlie doesn't view you that way," Ivy pointed out. "He just loves you."

"Well, he's a great kid."

"Yeah."

"So what are we going to do for the entire period?"

Ivy smirked. "Well, I know that you're going to say that you're hungry…"

"Of course."

"So why don't we go down to the kitchens and get you fed?"

Sirius immediately turned in the direction of the kitchens, and Ivy wondered if he would always know exactly how to get there from any given point in the castle. "Sounds fantastic."

There was a moment of silence as they started walking before Sirius broke the silence, as he was want to do.

"So how've you two been?"

Ivy shot him a genuine smile, one that reached her warm eyes. "We're okay. Really, we are."

"So all that business about Remus being an idiot with that Texan prat – "

"Who has a name," Ivy reminded him. "But yes, that all settled."

"And all that business about you never risking your life and listening to me next time I tell you not to go looking for a full grown werewolf alone – "

"Is also settled," Ivy answered agitatedly. "No, he was much better after what happened in the Hospital Wing. He said a lot of things that he needed to say."

"No shit," Sirius sighed. "I'm just glad that you're both all right. I was worried about you back in the fall."

"Believe me, so was I," Ivy conceded.

"… Do you think…" Sirius did not know if he wanted to ask this question, or even if it was okay for him to ask it. "Do you think that there was a chance that… that it could have ended?"

Ivy let out a large breath, like she'd been expecting the question, but hadn't expected it to hit so hard. "God… do I? Sirius…. I've asked myself that a few times. Could I have really walked away from him – because I almost did. I almost walked away, but he pulled me back…"

Sirius' eyes went wide with fear. It couldn't happen. Not to them. If it could happen to them, it could happen to anyone. Ron and Hermione. Ginny and Harry. Hell, it could have happened to James and Lily…

It had happened to Guinevere.

"… Even if I had walked away, would I have been able to stay away?" Ivy continued, asking the question as much to herself as to him. "Would I have been able to turn everything on its head again, and tell myself again that I was leaving him behind because it just hurt too damn much?"

The question lingered in the air for a long time.

But Ivy sighed. "Sirius, I hate that man as much as I love him. I hate him because somewhere along the line, somewhere between every long talk in front of that damn fireplace, every meaningful glance that we couldn't translate, every simple touch that made my head spin for no apparent reason – somewhere along that line, he took my heart from me. I don't remember giving it to him, so he must have taken it. And the worst part is, he knows just how to squeeze it. For better or worse, he knows exactly what to do, exactly what will make me smile, make me laugh, make me see sunshine on rainy days, and he knows exactly what will make me cry, make me scared, make my entire world fall down around me…. And it's hard knowing that he has that power. And I know he would never intentionally misuse it, but it could happen on accident. He could break me, he knows how…"

Sirius thought he should say something. He couldn't.

"The bottom line is, I knew that I loved him when I saw that he had that power, and I realized that I secretly wanted him to have it. Some hidden part of me was overjoyed that he was the one person who had me figured out, like I was some damned manual he found in the school library, and he just never returned the fucking book."

She shook her head as they rounded another corner. "And I left sixteen years ago, thinking that he had let me go, and that meant I had to leave. But he wasn't lying when he said he was selfish…" Her voice dropped to a whisper, and Sirius could see her biting her lip, trying to hold something back, maybe tears.

"… He never gave my heart back to me. Maybe he didn't know he still had it, maybe he never knew he did, not the way he knows now. But he kept it, and I moved on, and never realized that the reason I felt so lost and dead in the world was because I was a half-person, I guess. And then I came back here, I came home and found what I was missing, and I was so mad at him for keeping it from me, but it didn't matter because I loved him so much – "

She took a deep breath, calming herself down. She would not break down in the hallway, not because Sirius had asked her a simple question that required a simple answer. She hadn't given him the answer yet.

"I wouldn't have stayed away, even if I had left. It couldn't have ended, no matter how much it hurt because he stole something from me that belongs to him now. And he can bring me joy or pain, it's up to him. And I'm okay with that because I just love him too fucking much…"

She paused for a moment and had the grace to laugh at herself. "So I guess my marriage is pretty normal, then."

Sirius blinked. "No, I wouldn't say that, Ivy. I wouldn't say that ever. But I will say that you're lucky. Damn lucky."

Ivy smiled. "So when are you gonna find yourself a nice girl?" she said in her best matchmaker voice.

"No, no, no, no, no," Sirius said immediately. "We're not turning this into a conversation about me."

"Well, you better think of a different topic before we get to the kitchens, or you won't be happy with how much I'm going to bug you." She stopped and revised her tactics. "How's work?"

"Fine," Sirius said, instantly relieved. "Got some really interesting cases, people that I think we can really help."

Ivy wasn't stupid. He said "_we_".

Her eyes twinkled in a familiar fashion. "Do tell…"

* * *

Charlie listened with rapt attention to Remus' every word. He was absolutely engrossed, and he nearly fainted when the students pulled out their wands and practiced incantations. He watched Remus write notes on the board, and was very upset that he hadn't brought a notebook to write all of this down in.

When the class was over, Charlie was devastated. Couldn't they have had just ten more minutes?

Remus answered questions for the lingering fifth years, and when they were gone, he started shuffling the essays that his class had handed in at the beginning of the period. Once they were in order, he placed all of the papers into his briefcase and turned to Charlie.

"So what did you think?" He wasn't about to ask the boy if he was bored, not with how Charlie looked ready to take on a vampire at that very moment, just from the knowledge he had learned.

"It was amazing! You teach the best subject in the world, you're so lucky!"

Remus laughed quietly. "Yes, I'm very lucky. Lucky for a lot of things. But I wish every student was as engrossed as you were, it would make the classes much more interesting for me."

The boy was suddenly silent, and Remus wondered if he'd said something to upset him. "Charlie?"

"I just…" Charlie started, staring at the floor. "I just wish I could be in your world. I wish I had magic. I would love to learn what the kids learn here. And I would love to live in this castle."

Remus pulled his chair up next to the boy and sat down. Now was the time to listen, he knew. He had always been good at knowing those moments.

"Was it easier for people to accept you as a werewolf in this world?" Charlie asked.

Remus shook his head. "I would like to tell you differently, but most of them are afraid of us, and hostile. Like I said, I have been lucky."

"But how can I tell people who don't even know they exist?"

Remus pressed his lips together. This was going to be a very difficult conversation. "They probably wouldn't believe you, and if you tried to show them, it would scare them very badly."

The boy's mouth twitched. "Then where do I belong? What can I do? What do I pick?"

"You don't."

Charlie looked up at him quizzically.

Remus knew that Charlie was a smart boy; he trusted that he would be able to understand this. "You need both worlds, Charlie. You'll have to live in your own, that's probably where you'll work, that's where you'll learn, that's where your family is. But you can take from our world too, you can meet people who understand you, who aren't afraid or think that you're something from a ghost story. How much you become a part of this world is up to you. You know it exists now, and you can have access to it, just ask any of us."

Charlie smiled. "If you sent me a letter, would an owl come to my house?"

"Certainly. Why?"

"I liked it when it happened the first time. My dad freaked out."

Remus chuckled. "Well then, we'll have to send a letter at least once a month to make sure that your father is sufficiently inconvenienced."

"Really? You promise?"

"I promise. I can even send you some of the notes that I use for myself when I'm teaching, if you'd like to learn more about this subject."

"Yes! Yes, please!"

"It's all settled then. I'll send you notes for the class, and you can write me back with questions, and what you thought about the lessons."

Charlie beamed. Remus knew that had to have been the way his face had lit up as a child when he had been told he could come to Hogwarts. He knew he had done the right thing.

"Come on," he said. Getting out of his chair and picking up his briefcase. "Let's go find Sirius and Ivy. We'll take you to meet Hagrid."

"Who's Hagrid?"

"You'll love him. Trust me."

* * *

Ivy could not recall a time in her life when she had ever been this nervous. Hell, terrified was a better word, really.

_What will he say? Oh my God, was this a mistake? How did I let this happen?_

Nothing was coherent, nothing made sense. All that existed was her heart, which was pounding out of her chest, and her stomach, which kept tying in knots and shaking so she couldn't get a proper breath.

It was amazing how twenty minutes could change your whole life. That was all it had taken to change hers.

But no, that wasn't really true. It took less time than that. Much less.

After all, her life had changed from the moment that she met him, hadn't it?

_But what will he say?_

She didn't know if she could take the answer right now, but she couldn't keep everything locked up. She couldn't keep this from him. Even if it made him angry, or scared, or confused. He had to know. She wanted him to know.

Didn't she?

Remus and Sirius were sitting down in the kitchens. It was the weekend and Sirius had wanted to talk to Remus about some of the cases that he was dealing with, see if his friend could come up with any good advice, any ideas that he hadn't thought of yet. They were both rather alarmed when they saw Ivy come barreling into the room looking like something shot at and hit.

"Remus, can I talk to you?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

He tilted his head in a worried fashion. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just have to talk to you alone right now."

Sirius wanted to make a smartass comment about being left behind, but Ivy looked too frantic. Remus stood up and guided her over to the other end of the kitchens. Sirius wouldn't be able to hear them over there, as the kitchens were a large area considering how many people the house elves had to cook for, and Remus wanted to keep her near an oven or a fireplace because she was shaking like she had the flu.

"Ivy, what's – "

"I might have really screwed things up," Ivy said instantly.

Remus frowned. "Screwed what up?"

"Us. Everything…. I just don't know, you'll have to tell me. But I don't know how to start…"

He ducked down, trying to find her eyes. "What are you talking about? What's happened?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me. I wasn't thinking, it was all my fault, I usually take care of things like that, I just wasn't thinking because we had been arguing and then suddenly we weren't anymore and I didn't _think_ – "

"You already said that," Remus cut in, trying to calm her down by being short with her. "Now you have to tell me what's going on. What did you do that would make you this upset?"

She looked up at him for a moment, opened her mouth like she wanted to say something. But Remus could actually see the words catching in her chest. Right below her heart, right above her diaphragm, they stopped and refused to go any further.

"I can't," Ivy said, the words coming out like a dry sob. "I don't know how to say it. Every way seems so inadequate for changing everything this much, especially if you're not okay with this…"

Remus grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her gently toward him, though part of him wanted to shake her a bit because she was getting hysterical. "Changing what? What's changed?"

Her eyes locked with his. She wouldn't answer, but she was praying that he somehow understood. _What could she have done that was so terrible that she can't bear to tell me?_

So he started trying to see if anything was different. She looked the same, despite the fact that she looked a little ill, and as though she hadn't slept well. He didn't remember her tossing or turning in her sleep, though, so he wasn't sure why she would be tired. She hadn't been spending a lot of time with Clayton, and he had no reason to be suspicious about that anyway. No one they knew was injured or hurt that he was aware of…

He took a deep breath, sighing at how easily she could always manage to confuse him –

What was _that?_

He pulled Ivy into to him, burying his face in her neck and inhaling deeply. Ivy whimpered anxiously, instinctively trying to lean away from him, not understanding how that would let him know…

Remus continued to breathe. He moved to the other side of her neck, her shoulder, down close to her breast, and then his nose came back up, trailing the edge of Ivy's jaw line while she stood still as a statue in dread.

Remus' eyes widened.

_My God…_

He had wondered why she hadn't died that night in the Forbidden Forest. She should have. He should have killed her or bitten her, something should have happened. But Sirius told him that the wolf had stopped when they had gotten there, he had been eyeing her, smelling her…

It didn't make sense at the time. The wolf did not know Ivy was someone to protect.

But the wolf would know _this_.

Ivy would have been safe in the forest that night from every beast and monster that dwelled there. The wolf would have fought to protect her from everything, would never have laid a claw on her.

And Remus' world would never be the same.

But Ivy was still staring up at him, breathing shortly, checking his eyes frantically like she was hoping to read something, anything. Something to let her know what he was going to say, so she could prepare herself for the blow…

Remus reached down and placed a hand against her stomach. He felt her unconsciously lean into the touch, craving the warmth.

"What are we going to name her?" he asked softly.

Ivy's eyes lit like shooting stars, and she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did at that moment.

"It's a girl?" she whispered.

He nodded, the smile on his face so honest and warm that she burst into tears and threw her arms around his neck.

"I was so worried that you'd be mad at me!"

Remus almost laughed, but he knew that wouldn't make her feel better. "Good heavens, why?"

"I've always been so careful about that, we'd never discussed it, so I wasn't going to let it happen. It was just that night…"

"I know," he said gently, his arms hanging around her loosely, as he no longer knew what was appropriate. "We both knew that something had changed."

"But I never thought – "

" – Me neither."

"I mean, this means that – "

" – I know."

Ivy had a brief moment of wondering how often they said that to each other – _I know_. Two very important little words. _He knew._

And thank God he did.

She tilted her head up slightly. "You can actually hold me, you know, she won't get squished."

And then he did laugh, laughed hard as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her carefully. He didn't know it was possible to be so terrified and elated about the future at the same time.

He also didn't know that it was possible to love someone so much before you had ever met them.

Suddenly, every silly gesture between James and Lily during her pregnancy made so much sense. Every look that confused Remus, every phrase that sounded odd, how proud James had been of his precious Lily, and how every little thing worried him into a coma.

How had James survived that?

Sirius had walked up behind Ivy, trying to catch Remus' eye over her shoulder. _What's going on?_ he mouthed in confusion.

Remus thought of letting Ivy tell him. It was really her place…

To hell with her place. He was too damn proud.

_She's pregnant,_ he mouthed back delicately.

Sirius blinked at him quizzically.

Clearly, those weren't the words he was expecting because he didn't understand. Remus tried again.

Sirius' jaw dropped to the floor. He looked like he might faint before Remus did.

Ivy pulled away from her husband, knowing that Sirius was behind her. Well, she hadn't been planning on keeping the secret for long, anyway.

When she turned around, she found Sirius beaming at her. "You ready to be a godfather again?" she asked.

He walked to her, grasping both of her hands in one of his. "So now I've finally seen her – the most beautiful woman in the world!"

"Yeah, sure. That's what you say now before I get all fat, and my feet swell up."

"Rubbish." He put a finger under her chin, brushing it with his thumb. "My Little Sister's going to have a baby…"

He pulled her into him and gave her a tight squeeze around the shoulders, then immediately dropped his hand to her stomach. "How far along are you?"

"Three months, plus one day," Ivy recited dutifully. "Madam Pomfrey says that she's due on July ninth."

"She told you the gender?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"No, that was me," Remus corrected.

Sirius snorted. "How the bloody hell do you know?"

Remus shrugged. "There's a difference in the scent."

Sirius' brow furrowed in thought. "So if she's due on the ninth… wait, I bet I can figure out the conception date, just give me a second…"

"And _how_ would you know how to figure that out?" Ivy asked amusedly.

Sirius paused his train of thought for a moment. "There was a midwife who lived in a cabin really close to Godric Hollow. Sometimes when I was over at James' house during the summer, his mum would have us bring the lady pies and stuff. She used to give me weird bits of information like that."

"And why do you care?" she asked.

"It's fun to figure out," Sirius insisted.

Ivy looked back at Remus, who shook his head in amusement.

"So…" Sirius started up again. "If the baby's due on the ninth then you would've had to conceive some time around… let's see…"

His eyes went wide again, as he pointed back and forth between the two of them. "_You…_"

Two sets of eyes drifted to the ground sheepishly.

"_That_ day?" Sirius interrogated in shock. "You two were going at it like you were about to call it quits, you were both livid, you vanished in a huff, and then you came back here and you – "

" – It's called 'make up sex', Sirius," Ivy clarified jokingly.

"That's not exactly what I would have called it," Remus said significantly.

Ivy looked at him, knowing what he was referring to. "No… I guess we really couldn't call it that." She understood, but Sirius was far too hilarious to watch at this point, and she had to tease her Big Brother again, just a bit. "Wait, Remus, didn't we decide to file it under 'mind-blowing' – "

"Okay! That's enough!" Sirius cried. "You two are very, very sick individuals. I'm going to go wash my brain out in the courtyard fountain and then go talk to Flitwick. He'll be able to clear my head of any inappropriate thought, he'll tell me about some wonderfully mundane article that he found in Charms For the World of Tomorrow, or something…"

Sirius grabbed up his cloak and stalked out of the kitchens, muttering to himself.

Ivy felt Remus walk up behind her. "After all the fuss he makes about me not giving him details, you'd think he would have been thrilled to know that."

"But we scared him that day," Ivy reminded him. "He really thought that we were getting a divorce."

She felt gentle hands turn her around. "Never," he said quietly. "Could never let go of you. You wouldn't have even made it to the door."

She tilted her head curiously at him. "You wouldn't have let me leave?"

He shook his head slowly, his nose brushing against hers. She was grateful for the hands at her back, keeping her steady. "Need you too much. It's kind of pathetic, really. You're right up there with shelter and sunlight and air – "

Ivy smiled and grabbed him by the tie, pulling him down to kiss him tenderly. She felt his tongue carefully stroke hers as though she were made of glass, and knew that she would have to get used to being treated that way over the next several months. But she didn't mind so much.

When she finally released him, she listened to him breathe. "I guess I rank above air," she taunted with a mischievous smile.

"Mm-hm," he gasped, resting his forehead against hers. After a moment, he smiled.

"What?" Ivy asked.

"We're going to need more room," he said with a smirk.

Ivy giggled at the cliché and tugged the tie once more, pulling his lips back down to hers.

And Remus sighed into her mouth, amazed at how quickly life could change, and how much of this he never would have dreamed for. And though he never was the type to believe in miracles, he realized he better start.

Because life was suddenly full of them.

* * *

Bruce always knocked with a specific rhythm, so Sirius just automatically let him in, knowing who was on the other side of the door. Tonight was no exception, and as Sirius was busy trying to screw hooks into the wall adjacent to the door (it was easier than looking for a coat rack and he was so bloody bored), he simply opened the door and went back to his screwdriver and large brass-looking things that people could hang coats on. He could hear Bruce bound in with his usual buoyancy.

"What are you doing?" came the first, obvious question.

"I'm practicing my talent for the Miss Magical of the UK Pageant."

"… And your talent is screwing things into walls? Or is it just screwing things in general?"

Sirius lost it at that one. He laughed into one hand, trying to keep the screwdriver straight with the other. One of the things that he really liked about Bruce – he knew how to dish Sirius' sarcasm right back to him. It was nice to spend time with someone who always had a comeback, but wasn't scathing (like Guinevere), or too smart (like Remus).

"But really," Bruce started, stepping over to where Sirius was working, "can't you just swish the wand and be done with that?"

"I could," Sirius admitted, "but I wanted something distracting that would take up more of my time. This is much more difficult." He glanced over at him. "How do you people get by?"

Bruce grinned. "One day at a time, just like everyone else." He looked down at the hooks and screws still on the floor. "Do you want some help?"

"Nah," Sirius replied. "It'll just give me less to do, which will defeat the purpose of doing it without a wand. Thanks, though."

Bruce nodded. "Hope you don't mind that I'm dropping in here before I visit dear old sis. I don't know if I can handle her yet."

"She in a mood?" Sirius asked, motioning him over to couch and going quickly to the liquor cabinet to pull out the whiskey and shot glasses.

"It's Gwen – she's always in a mood."

Sirius glanced up at the ceiling. "Fair enough. Anything in particular this time?"

Bruce took the glass of whiskey Sirius offered with a thankful nod. "She hasn't been bothering you that much lately, has she? I've noticed a definite dissipation in the hostilities between you two."

Sirius didn't really know where that comment was going, so he teased Bruce instead. "'Dissipation'? 'Hostilities'? Rather big vocabulary you got for a farmhand, wouldn't you say?"

Bruce smirked and shrugged. "Hey, I went to school, you know. Studied all those fancy dead authors that everyone raves about."

"Don't let your sister hear you talk like that."

"Eh, she knows about me and literature. She usually just resorts to calling me 'ill-bred' and 'unworthy of being her twin'. I don't see it so much about being 'worthy' as I see it about being halves. Twins are funny that way." Bruce grinned wickedly. "I like to think that I'm the fun half."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't think many could argue with you there."

"But really, you two seem to get along much better now," Bruce said, setting his glass down after another sip of liquor.

Sirius shrugged again. "Yeah, we've gotten used to the situation, I suppose. She's not so terrible when she isn't taking offense to everything you say."

"Which I know isn't often," Bruce said sympathetically. "Thank you for spending time with her. I can't tell you how grateful I am, she really needs friends…. She also told me that you helped her when she ran into her ex a few months ago."

Sirius glanced up sharply. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that Guinevere told him that. "She told you about that?"

"Only because I ran into the bastard the other day, and wanted to warn her that he was in town. She said that she already ran into him and that bitch friend of hers a while ago, and that you pulled her out of there before she made herself look ridiculous."

Sirius was instantly relieved at the fact that Guinevere hadn't given details. He didn't know how Bruce would have reacted to knowing Sirius' strategy for getting Guinevere out of the supermarket, but it was definitely a conversation that he did not want to have. "Well, it was the least I could do. The man's clearly a complete wanker, and I didn't want to see Guinevere try and stumble through that conversation, it would have been too cruel."

"Yeah…" Bruce's mind seemed to travel for a moment before he looked back down at Sirius. "She's really gotten used to you."

"Mm?" Sirius murmured, feigning complete ignorance at the subject the other man was trying to broach.

"Guinevere has," Bruce clarified, knowing full well that Sirius knew exactly who he was talking about. "The other day when I came over for dinner, she set a place for you by accident."

Sirius felt some of his whiskey go down the wrong pipe, and tried not to cough, but kept the glass firmly in his hand so he would have another place to look. "Oh, heh… well, I guess – "

"It was really funny when I brought it up. She turned bright pink."

"Yeah, well…" Sirius looked up at the ceiling, but then he remembered who was above his ceiling and how that must look. He decided on the floor instead. "I guess it would be pretty embarrassing to set a table for more people than you intended…"

Bruce rolled his eyes, knowing that Sirius wouldn't notice the expression. "Last week when she made pasta, she used the corkscrew kind."

Sirius continued to look at the floor intently, emitting some sort of noncommittal laugh at the comment.

"… She never uses anything but spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine," Bruce blurted out importantly. "So I figure you're the one who started that…"

Sirius almost felt like he was being accused of something, and although he didn't know what it was, he knew he didn't like the feeling. "It was sort of a joke," he tried to explain. "We were at the supermarket, and she got all worked up over a certain kind of pasta not being there…. It's not a big deal really, just a sort of joke…"

"Yeah, you said that," Bruce sighed. He rubbed at the back of his head and drained his glass. "I should probably go up there…"

Sirius nodded and stood up. "Yeah, don't want to piss her off…. Thanks for dropping by…"

Bruce smiled. "Yeah, no problem. Thanks for always letting me."

There was a stamp on the ceiling and Sirius jolted nervously before realizing what the noise was. Bruce looked at him quizzically.

Sirius grinned. "She always does this…" he attempted for his explanation. When Bruce continued to look at him in a puzzled manner, Sirius just gave up, walked over to his window, opened it, and stuck his head out.

She was waiting dutifully above his head. "Have you got my damn brother down there, or not? He's late, and I do have better things I could be doing with my time, you know…"

"Such as?" Sirius questioned with a smirk.

"Planning a hypothetical herb garden for this useless flower box outside my kitchen window," she shot back.

Sirius fought back the urge to laugh. She was getting faster with her retorts every day, it was really exhilarating to listen to. "Why would you want to do that in the dead of winter?"

"Who are you to question when I do my garden planning? I keep everything on a tight schedule, you know that. And it just so happens that the only time I have to do hypothetical herb garden planning is right at this very moment."

Sirius pushed the window open all the way and sat on the ledge. "Oh, the pain and complexities of being you!" he cried melodramatically.

Guinevere gave him a sardonic half-smile. "You have no idea…. Now, where's my daft brother?"

Sirius' door opened at that very moment and Bruce stepped out with his coat in hand. "Right here. You know, you should spend more time with this chap, he's got nothing to do down here. He's screwing hooks into walls."

Guinevere raised her eyebrows. "That's what all the noise was? Good God, I had vainly hoped that maybe you had decided to clean the place…"

"It's always clean down here," Sirius huffed. "Compared to your place it's cleaner than the virtue of Joan of Arc."

"And you know about that how?"

"I read it," he called up defensively. "I read about it in a book. There are lots of books down here, in case you hadn't noticed. Why does everyone act like I don't read or try to learn anything? I do, I just read fast – "

" – Otherwise known as skimming," Guinevere interjected.

"No," Sirius grumbled crossly, "I read _fast_ and soak up material easily. That's why school was painless for me."

"_Anyway_," Bruce interrupted before they could start arguing, "What I meant to say was you should do something during the week days. Play board games or something." As he was walking up the stairs, he glanced over his shoulder at Sirius. "She likes chess."

Sirius snorted. "Remus was always the chess master, not me. Although James used to have delusions that he could beat him, which was naturally impossible…." He paused for a moment, shaking himself of the memory that had surfaced too vividly. "I'm sure dear Guinevere would love playing chess with me – she'd have me beat in five moves."

"Which would make playing chess no different than our real life relationship, wouldn't it, Sirius?" Guinevere called down smugly, as Bruce disappeared into her flat. "Beaten in five moves?"

"Wench."

"Shirtlifter."

Sirius gawped at her in mock offense. "So we're taking jabs at my sexuality now, is it?"

Guinevere shrugged disaffectedly. "If you can say that I sleep with people for money, then I have every right to say that you have sex with men."

"At least yours is a profession!" Sirius complained.

She sighed. "You know, Sirius, I really don't have time to argue about this. I have company, after all."

Sirius laughed. "Oh, that's fine. Just run away, you coward."

She ignored his attempt to provoke her, instead noticing how thin his shirt was. "And get inside or put a bloody jacket on. You're making me cold."

With that, she pulled her head back in and shut her window.

Sirius thought of staying out there on the ledge for another ten minutes, just to piss her off, but then he remembered that she wouldn't know he was doing it, so that defeated the purpose. He stretched idly and slid off the ledge back into his flat, closing the window behind him.

Five minutes later Guinevere stuck her head outside her window to make sure that Sirius had gone inside.

* * *

The protestors had been getting restless. Everyday there was some new report in the Daily Prophet about the latest rally, the next move. There was always some comment about Professor Lupin and how Headmistress Dumbledore was pulling strings to avert eyes from what she was allowing her husband to do at the school. Remus had stopped reading the paper.

That day during dinner, Minerva approached the table and called Ivy away. Remus watched over his shoulder, ignoring Clayton's glare, which he didn't bother to hide while Ivy was not present.

He watched as Ivy talked to Minerva in hushed tones, her hands bracing her back gingerly. She was nearly five months along now, and showing quite nicely through her green maternity robes, her hair falling gracefully into her face from the loose twist she had pulled it into. Her back gave her trouble and her feet had swelled a little, but Remus couldn't deny that pregnancy agreed with her. She glowed from the first locks of hair on top of her head all the way down to her aching toes. Her smile alone seemed to have raised the spirits of the whole school, and every student was acting as though they had a sibling on the way.

Some of the students (particularly the older male ones) gave Remus sly congratulatory looks when Minerva gave the news in January during dinner one evening. Remus tried not to linger on what they might be thinking about to look so smug…. It was just _odd_… they were still _children_, for God's sake, even if they were of legal age…

They hadn't thought of a name for her yet, much to Sirius' constant dismay. He threatened to start up a contest at work for names, if they didn't think of one soon. He didn't like calling her "our girl" anymore, and insisted that she needed a proper title.

Remus found that heightened senses were a blessing in this case, and normally could tell what Ivy wanted or needed before she asked for it. And he waited on her hand and foot because, honestly, how could he do any different when she was being so brave and tender and selfless?

If she needed cheddar cheese and lemon wedges at three in the morning, he certainly wouldn't argue.

If she started crying when she spilled sugar on the rug, she had his shoulder to bury her head in.

If she felt overwhelmed by work, he could forge her signature on any number of documents, turn out letters that sounded as though she had written them carefully herself.

And if she suddenly had a tormenting whipped cream and ice cube fetish… well, that just made things more interesting for him…

He snapped out of his train of thought when he noticed that Ivy seemed upset. She was shaking her head vehemently at Minerva, motioning sharply with her hands, tugging on loose strands of her hair nervously. He stood up and walked over to them, just in time to hear the words, "Well, I'll have to go out there…"

"No, Ivy, you absolutely cannot – "

"Why? What's going on?" Remus asked.

Ivy jumped at his voice, while Minerva looked away. It had to be bad, Remus realized. Minerva never looked away.

"Nothing," Ivy answered in a shrill pitch. "We have something to take care of, that's all."

Remus' eyes narrowed. "What?"

"It's nothing, really," Ivy said again in a pleading tone. "Don't worry about it."

A twangy voice joined in on the conversation from the table. "Wouldn't have anythin' ta do with the shoutin' I keep hearin' outside, would it?"

Ivy glared at Clayton for divulging the information.

Remus focused his fine-tuned hearing and listened, and he noticed that he could hear a voice outside. A voice that sounded like it was being projected from a far distance…

"_This monstrosity has access to our children!"_

His jaw set. "The protestors."

Ivy's head dropped down. "Please, just let me take care of it…"

Remus ignored her request and left the Great Hall in a rush, hearing her shuffling patter behind him as she hurried to keep up with his stride.

She managed to catch up with him and grabbed him by his sleeve at the door. "Don't go out there," she begged in a whisper. "Don't do this, we can't let them see you now. The situation has become too dangerous lately, you know that."

He took her hand from his sleeve and squeezed it reassuringly. "I won't do anything stupid. I just want to know if there's any way to end this. I have to talk to them, I promise that's all I'll do."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going with you."

He shook his head. "I don't want them to use you to try and provoke me."

"No choice, I'm coming. I'll bring Minerva and Hagrid, but I'm still coming."

Remus heaved a troubled sigh, but there was nothing for it. So he left the castle with Ivy at his side and cautiously approached the gates.

The protestors shouted with renewed fervor as he reached the gates, and Cynthia Dammers was waiting at the front with a joyful smile in place. Signs were raised, the crowd pushed forward, and Ms. Dammers quieted them for a moment.

Remus stepped forward, but Ivy took hold of his arm, never leaving his side. He thought he smelled something putrid amongst the crowd, but couldn't find a place where it could be coming from. Maybe it was just the collective scent of so much fear and enmity.

"I don't see the need for this, Ms. Dammers," Remus called calmly. "People will believe what they believe, so why do you need to be here in front of this school, disrupting our lesson plans?"

"Oh, Professor Lupin," she shouted back harshly, "it is so good of you to play the part of the gentleman for us. That must be how you've managed to stay among the decent, hard-working people of our world for so long, and tricked this fine woman into marrying you – "

"Ms. Dammers, who hurt you?" Remus asked suddenly. "Who made you so bitter and hateful that you feel the need to come here and ruin the lives of others? Was it a werewolf? A vampire?" He motioned behind him, where Hagrid and Minerva now stood. "A giant? Because I can't think of any other reason for anyone to be filled with so much loathing and resentment toward people they don't know."

Ms. Dammers glared at Remus as though she wanted to rip his vocal chords out with her bare hands. But she had a better weapon.

Her words.

"You see them, you see what they have done!" she cried to the crowd. "Trying to turn our children against us, trying to trick us into thinking that they're receiving a good education! And now you can see!" she raged, pointing to Ivy. "Now you can see what it all leads to! The headmistress of Hogwarts has been compromised. Look what these fake innocents have between them! Leave a werewolf around any woman for long enough and he'll mark his territory! An abomination of nature! A child of demonic, cursed descent!"

Remus had been prepared for that particular blow, but that didn't make it any less agonizing, especially when he felt Ivy shudder and clutch his arm tighter, her free hand landing protectively on her belly. He didn't really care much about what they said in regard to him. They could call him names, tell lies, make him sound like a monster. But acting like they could righteously bring his wife and unborn child into this made him blindingly furious.

It seemed that Ivy could feel him tense up, however, because she squeezed his arm and whispered, "You promised."

He nodded to her, never taking his eyes off of Cynthia Dammers' smug face.

"Ms. Dammers, we politely request that you and your party leave these premises, and allow us to get back to work," he said with surprising calm.

She smiled again, making Remus itch to pull his wand from his pocket and hex her. "Of course, Professor. But I fear that things will only get more difficult from now on. The following is gaining momentum – you will not be safe for long."

Remus pursed his lips together. "Until next time, then."

"Yes, until then."

The protestors filed out slowly, packing away their signs and shouting obscenities back in their direction as they left. Remus looked to Ivy confusedly.

"Why did they listen to me? They didn't have to leave, why didn't they stay and continue the protest?"

Ivy shrugged and pulled on his arm. "I don't care, Remus, let's just get back inside."

But she wasn't looking him in the eye. He stayed put, holding her in place. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing," she pleaded. "Let's just go inside."

"Ivy…"

She bit her lip. "There's a Disillusionment Charm cast on the gates. I can sense it. She must have cast it early in the morning when they arrived."

Remus blinked in surprise. "What for?"

"I don't know," Ivy answered back testily. "But I'm sure that we won't like whatever it's covering up, if they left it."

"If that's the case then we should it handle now," Remus pointed out. "If the charm is timed, it could wear out later, maybe tomorrow, when the students are more likely to see it."

"But – "

"It's probably just some signs posted on the gates, or some other rubbish," Remus continued. "Let's just get rid of it now, so we don't have to worry about it later."

Ivy turned around to look at Minerva. "What do you think?"

The older woman sighed. "We might as well," she decided. "I will perform the counter charm and we'll see what we're dealing with."

Minerva approached the gates cautiously with her wand in hand. After a few moments, she muttered the incantation –

And nearly tripped backwards at the sight.

"Dear God…"

Strung up on the gates was the body of a male werewolf, ripped to pieces the way a werewolf hunter did the job. Insides on the outside, muzzle torn open and mutilated, each limb chained to the gates with silver links. The golden eyes were glassy, open and angry, the claws extended. He probably fought to his death. Blood was running down the gates, a muddy brown against the iron as light faded from the evening sky.

Ivy gasped and covered her mouth like she was going to be sick, her other hand tightening around her stomach fearfully. She made a strangled noise in the back of her throat and reached for her husband –

But he wasn't there.

Remus had stepped back as though he had been slapped. That was the scent he had caught. It wasn't fear or hate. It was death.

_If these are the lengths they are willing to go to…_

He spun around, breathing raggedly with a hand against his chest – _why did it suddenly feel like something was squeezing there?_ - and started back toward the castle. He thought he heard someone call after him, but everything seemed abruptly fuzzy, the scent of the werewolf on the gates blocking out everything else in his mind.

"Remus!" Ivy called again. She looked to Minerva, who nodded.

"Go to him. Severus and Hagrid and I will take care of this."

Ivy set off after her husband, but it was very difficult keeping up with such a tall man when one was five months pregnant and much shorter. She hurried as fast as she could, followed him into the castle, up the stairwell, around three corners, and finally ended up at the door to his office. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself and then turned the doorknob.

The door wouldn't open.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. She knocked, feeling very stupid that she had to do so.

"Remus?"

She thought she heard some sort of gasp on the other side of the door.

"Remus, can I come in?"

There was a long pause.

"…I think it's best if you don't."

"Why?"

"I need time to think."

Ivy wanted to laugh, which she knew was out of nervousness. Why did he sound so morbidly calm? "Think about what?"

"About what this means for us…. We might have made a mistake…"

Ivy was truly amazed that those words made her want to throw up more than seeing that poor being strung up in front of the castle. But he couldn't be saying that. It had to be a reaction of panic, and he would stop all of this in the next few seconds and have a breakdown, and they would talk about what they could do, and everything would be all right…

But Remus wasn't saying anything.

"Remus, don't do this."

"I should have really thought about what this would mean for a child," he said distantly, his voice barely audible from behind the door.

"No…" Ivy moaned. He couldn't do this now. Not now, not when she needed his strength…

"If these protests continue…. We should have thought more carefully about this."

"When?" Ivy cried, thankful that the students were probably all in their dorms by now for the night, and wouldn't see this episode. "When should we have done that, Remus? By the time we found out, it was already done!"

"…Should have been more careful…"

Ivy felt her anger flare up. "_Who?_ You or me, Remus? Which one of us should have been more careful?"

When he gave her no answer, Ivy pounded her fists against the office door and shrieked.

"God damn you! You come out here and talk to me right now! Do you hear me? Open the door, right now, Remus!"

She got no answer.

Ivy had one last chance. She tried to use wandless magic to open the door. It didn't budge. The locking charms had been fortified.

Giving one last pointless pound with her fist, Ivy sobbed against the door and felt her knees give out. Turning around so that her back was braced by the doorframe, she slid to the floor as tears came trailing down her flushed cheeks.

* * *

When Remus woke up, he found that he was still his office chair. It appeared that he had dozed off, probably about an hour after his fight with Ivy. He had just felt so heavy, like everything had waited until that moment to ambush him and drag him to the ground.

But the morning brings clarity, and now he had a frightful amount of it.

_Ivy…_

She should have known that he didn't know what he was saying last night, he was in too much shock. But if she had really listened to anything he had said…

He leapt out of his chair and made for the door. Getting rid of the heavy locking charms that he vaguely remembered putting in place last night, he opened it –

And nearly jumped out of skin at the sight on the other side.

She was heaped against the wall beside the door, her head ducked down and resting against the doorframe. One hand lay on top of her belly, the other was wrapped around her opposite shoulder, her legs folded under her.

She had stayed out there all night.

He suddenly felt a trickle of memory running at the back of his mind. A memory that as he was drifting off last night, he could hear her crying on the other side of the door…

Had he really been that far gone? So completely consumed in his own terror and grief that he had chosen not to notice her weeping outside his office all night?

But then his mind recalled the image of two frozen yellow eyes tied to iron bars, and he shivered. Yes, he had been that far gone yesterday. He only had himself to blame, but he couldn't push the image from his mind.

It didn't change the fact that he had left his pregnant wife on a cold stone floor, crying all night.

He had to stop this once and for all. No more running, no more silence. He was so tired of hurting the people that he loved.

He crouched down beside Ivy and brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, his fingers gently sweeping around the shell of her ear to tuck them in place. He heard her groan tiredly, the hand on her stomach rubbing subconsciously in a reassuring manner. He smiled. She would be such a good mother.

Swollen eyelids opened slowly, but she didn't jerk or gasp or shout when she saw him. Instead, she just stared carefully into his eyes. She was being cautious even though she could see his smile. She did not trust it to last.

A raw voice squeezed out so tensely, it seemed like she might cry again at any moment.

"Do you really think I should have been more careful?" she asked softly.

She sounded so ashamed that it broke Remus' heart.

"No," he said tenderly, pulling her into his arms. He stroked her back, which he knew had to be sore, especially after spending the night in her current position.

"You sounded like you didn't want – "

Remus put a hand to her mouth and hushed her. "Don't ever think that. Everything that I have in the world is right here."

Ivy shut her eyes tightly in relief, letting her lips fall haphazardly against his. It wasn't a kiss of passion or even romance, it was a kiss that said _show me what I am to you, let me feel how much I'm needed…_

And so he showed her.

"I thought of a name for her," Ivy said a minute later.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "You did?"

She nodded. "I don't know if you'll like it, but…" She paused for a moment. "Delilah."

Remus smiled, let the sound of the name drift in his mind. "Beautiful."

"Really? You like it?"

"It's perfect. And now we can get Sirius to leave us alone about naming her," he teased. "But first, we're getting you upstairs."

He helped her to her feet and braced her back as she straightened herself out.

"You're taking a warm bath and spending the rest of the day in bed," he ordered.

"That sounds good," she agreed. "You'll stay with me?"

He nodded. "At your beck and call all day."

"Then let's get out of here," Ivy said quickly. "No reason to stand in this cold hallway all day."

She leaned against him and they started down the hallway, as Remus silently tried to predict what outrageous food combination they would be having for breakfast this morning…

* * *

There we are! I hope that was worth the wait, everyone. And please let me know what you thought (seeing as this is a pretty pivotal chapter, I'd love to know what you think)! Next chapter coming up in less than two weeks! 


	12. Predictions, Capture, and Fortune

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Here we are! Two weeks as promised! My birthday present from me to you! I'm not done responding to everyone's reviews from the last chapter, but that should happen tomorrow, I think. Right now there is nothing more as it's very early in the morning and I'm sleepy.

Hope you enjoy it! Lots of things happen in this chapter, lots of them not really happy. DON'T PANIC. It will be all right in the end, I promise. -smiles-

_**Chapter Twelve – Predictions, Capture, and Fortune**_

**THEN**

Out of all the pubs her friends could have decided to take her to, Guinevere found herself at the same pub that Sirius Black had just entered.

"Oh, no, what is he doing here?" she groaned.

"Who?" Sylvia asked. She turned around to look at who was coming through the door. Sure enough, Sirius Black and James Potter had just walked into the pub, laughing, smiling, and generally having far too much fun, especially considering that James had gotten married recently.

Sylvia smiled like a panther. "Oh, those two. The two most gorgeous and talented men that any of us have ever laid eyes on. Aren't they lovely?"

"Sylvia!" Jacquelyn scolded. Jacquelyn was a Gryffindor friend of Sylvia's whom Guinevere found to be a rather nice, even if she had a hard time speaking her own mind. She had been one of Sylvia's roommates, and the blond beauty seemed to have sweet Jacquelyn wrapped around her pinky finger. "James Potter is married now! You can't say things like that."

Sylvia quirked a mischievous eyebrow. "Can't I? Oh, come on, Jacquelyn. Just because he's taken doesn't mean I can't stare if I feel like it. I don't think even the Great Lily Evans would object to that. And Sirius is certainly not taken." She ducked her head down and started to whisper. "Though I do hear that he's had his pick of probably half the women in here as of late."

Guinevere rolled her eyes and sipped at her spritzer.

Sylvia caught the look. "Really, Gwen, even you can't say that Sirius Black is unattractive."

"I never said that – " Guinevere started, fully prepared to go into her rant about the evil Sirius Black, and how attractiveness does not make up for a complete lack of moral values, genuine compassion, and manners.

But Sylvia had heard that rant before, and so she kept talking, all the while staring at the black-haired young man who was now approaching the bar with James to greet their friend Remus Lupin. "I mean, look at the man, Guinevere. Look at that jaw line. Straight, perfect nose, full lips, huge puppy dog eyes, which is why he can get away with anything – "

Sirius sat down next to Remus, who had gotten there early, and already had a drink on front of him. After exchanging a few words with his tired friend, he greeted the bartender enthusiastically, shaking his hand, both of them laughing at what appeared to be some private joke between the two of them.

Guinevere narrowed her eyes disdainfully.

Sylvia continued on. " – and the shoulders. He's just the perfect divide between muscular and toned. Not bulky and awkward, but not scrawny. Simply gorgeous. He probably doesn't even try to look that way, I've never seen him consciously doing exercise to get fit. He just naturally is that beautiful. And those strong hands, can you imagine – "

Guinevere started to tune her out, positive that she didn't want to hear anymore of that. Hearing the words "Sirius Black" and "perfect" together in any sense made her weep for humanity. Adding phrases like "beautiful" and "gorgeous" into the mix, and she felt rather like pouring acid into her spritzer and dumping the whole thing on his supposedly _perfect_ head.

" – really, with hands like that – "

"Oh, for God's sake!" Guinevere hissed. "Why don't you just go over there and ask him to take you home for the night? I'm sure he won't say no, and then you won't have to spend so much time wondering what it would be like to have him feel you up!"

Sylvia smirked. She knew Guinevere hated it when she talked about any man that way, especially Sirius Black. But it was good for her, it helped her get emotional about something, which Guinevere didn't do often.

"Nah, I don't fancy being a conquest of his. It's more fun to play the game by being the one he'll never get. Men like him enjoy that sort of thing." Sylvia paused a moment before getting to what she really wanted to talk about. "Well, what about you, Gwen? Who could possibly catch your eye?" She looked around briefly before her eyes landed on someone, and she laughed to herself. "I bet you fancy Remus Lupin. Right? I mean, he likes books almost as much as you do."

Guinevere snorted. Remus Lupin? Maybe when she was in third year she had some sort of schoolgirl crush on him, simply because he was bookish, and polite, and good to everyone. But she had always been rather disappointed that he didn't call Sirius and James on their bullshit more often. She had also figured out about his condition when she was in their second year. She hadn't told anyone, as it was no one's business, and she could imagine how hard it would be for Remus if the wrong people found out. But she often wondered if his friends knew. Keeping the secret from people that you spent most of your time with couldn't be easy.

As far as crushes were concerned, someone as observant as her could clearly see the way Remus' eyes glowed whenever Ivy Dumbledore walked into the same room. Though it was funny that neither of them seemed to know it yet. If she could see it, they certainly should be able to…

She was about to tell Sylvia that she should return to her drink and maybe think of a more interesting topic for conversation. After all, she and Jacquelyn were the ones who insisted that she needed a night out, they were supposed to be entertaining her.

But she never got the chance, because at that moment Sirius Black stood up and decided to address the whole establishment.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted in his sprightly, booming tenor. "I have an announcement to make and it's a rather important one, so I think it would be wise for all of you to listen carefully because there will be quiz later on, and those who were not paying attention will be hexed so that they speak backwards for a week."

Guinevere rolled her eyes again. "Oh, please…"

The room had gone awfully silent at his shouting, so when Guinevere had mumbled under her breath, Sirius had heard her. His head snapped to where she was sitting, his eyes narrowing briefly before he recovered his expression into a tight, sarcastic smile.

_Of all the places she could have been tonight, she had to pick the one pub that we…_

But he let it go and ignored her from then on. "Most of you know me well enough to know that such threats are never empty, so I trust that I have your attention."

Half the pub giggled in affirmation, and other half shouting, "Come on!", "What's going on, Black?", "Spit it out!"

Sirius grinned and placed a hand on the top of James' head, which his best friend shook in amusement, his glasses sliding bashfully down his nose.

"In less than half a year," Sirius said slowly, giving the impression that he should have a drum roll backing him up, "this man standing right here, is going to be a father!"

The entire pub erupted into applause and cheers, James blushing proudly under the roar. Remus leapt to his feet and grabbed the bespectacled man by the shoulders, appearing to want the confirmation from him. Clearly, he had not been informed yet. When James nodded, Remus yanked him into a hug, moving a hand up to muss his hair obnoxiously, laughing the whole while.

Soon the entire pub was finding their way over to James, everyone with congratulations, advice, or backslapping to offer. James accepted each graciously, and tried not to look too happy about being in the spotlight. To say that he was a _little_ proud at that moment was like saying that Professor McGonagall could be a _tad_ strict at times.

Eventually, the tumult died down and people returned to their own corners to chat and drink. James had been joined by Frank Longbottom, who had announced only a week earlier that he too had a little one on the way. The fathers-to-be were talking excitedly, while Sirius and Remus carried a seemingly intense conversation involving lots of hand motions and fists slamming on the bar. It was a friendly disagreement, one that they were both enjoying –

Until an exotic, raven-haired beauty came up to the bar and purposefully pushed between the two of them to order her drink.

Remus' eyes went to the ceiling when he saw Sirius' stare wander to the curvy form in front of him. Giving up immediately, he vacated his seat, shooting Sirius a _don't get into trouble_ glance, and moved over to James and Frank, who welcomed him happily into their prideful boasting match.

Guinevere watched scornfully as Sirius Black carefully examined the figure of this woman, who had slid into Remus' seat without so much as a "thank you" to him, and started speaking to Sirius in hushed tones.

"You know, for someone who thinks manners are so important, you certainly do stare a lot, Gwen," Sylvia broke into Guinevere's thoughts.

Guinevere shook her head and looked back to Sylvia with disgust written in her features. "He's just awful! I don't understand why people think he's so wonderful, he's absolutely base, vulgar, and egoistic. He's like a parasite."

Sylvia smirked. "All men are parasites in one way or another. And the woman up at the bar there seems to like the tall, dark, and handsome sort quite a bit."

Guinevere glanced back where her eyes had been fixed earlier. Already, Sirius was leaning with his back against the bar, the woman's knee pressing against his thigh and holding him in place. He looked sickeningly comfortable there, laughing and talking in what was undoubtedly a low, sweet tone, while this woman he had met a minute or so ago communicated darker body language, shifting her body so that she brushed against his arm, her hand accidentally sweeping down his chest, her knee shifting against his leg in slow circles…

Sirius reached out and tucked some stray hairs behind the woman's ear, leaning in closer as they spoke, a decidedly sinful smile curling the edges of his lips.

Guinevere felt a flash of heat run across her cheeks, but she ignored it, telling herself that it was anger causing the reaction. "Absolutely vile. You know what happens to men like him?"

Sylvia quirked an eyebrow in curious amusement. "What?"

"They get arrested for heinous crimes. They fall in with bad people and end up becoming vicious, tyrannical thugs. Because they have the looks and bravado to get people to follow them, and the ambition to make terrible things happen. Mark my words – he'll end up in Azkaban. And he would deserve it, if he did."

Sylvia and Jacquelyn both stiffened in their chairs, very nearly appalled by Guinevere's outrageous condemning. "Why would you say that?" Jacquelyn asked softly. "I mean, I know you always hated him, but why would you ever think – "

"Oh, really, Jacquelyn, just look at him!" Guinevere insisted, motioning with a hand over to where Sirius was standing at the bar. Guinevere watched him, her eyes narrowing into slits. "He's morally bankrupt and doesn't care about who he tramples on to get to his own satisfaction."

Sirius and the woman were talking with their faces barely an inch apart, and she seemed to like what she was hearing from him because she shifted forward on her chair, pressing her chest closer and tilting her head back. It looked like they were about to kiss –

When Ivy Dumbledore burst through the door, gasping for breath.

Sirius turned his head at the sound, and when he saw Ivy barreling toward James, Remus, and Frank, he excused himself (much to the dark-haired woman's dismay and anger) and joined them. Ivy was talking in short bursts, not finding proper breath, no matter how many times Remus implored her to slow down and take a minute. Apparently their conversation was not for everyone's ears, however, as Ivy had the four men huddled into a group so she could speak softly, her eyes wide with urgency.

Soon, all four men were grabbing their coats. Sirius tossed some money on the bar, whispered something into James' ear before patting him on the shoulder, and turned to Ivy again, who motioned for them to follow her.

The bartender did not know where they were going, and he wanted to ask, but he knew they wouldn't tell him. This wasn't the first time they had rushed out of the place in a right panic.

He had known this particular crowd since they were children. He also knew that they were still very young, still growing really, and growing during very hard times at that. The alarm he could see in their faces, the way they were rushing out the door like they were going into battle, made him worry. "You kids be careful."

Sirius was the last one to reach the door. Throwing his second arm through the sleeve of his coat, he called back over his shoulder, "We will, Jack. Thanks," and disappeared into the frigid night air.

"What was that all about?" Sylvia muttered aloud.

Guinevere shrugged in confusion and went back to sipping her spritzer, feeling far calmer now that Black had gone.

A few minutes later, there was commotion on the street. Everyone, it seemed, had left their homes, and were outside yelling back and forth. Someone from the pub went outside to check and came back in shaking.

"It's the Dark Mark!" he shouted to everyone. "Outside in the sky, not even a mile away!"

There was a panic, as everyone rushed to leave, some people Apparating home on the spot. Guinevere, Sylvia and Jacquelyn all rushed outside to see it for themselves. They stood on the street with hundreds of others, watching the sky glitter green with dark magic.

Someone said they reckoned they could hear screaming in the distance. Someone else asked if they knew where the Dark Mark was located over.

"Looks like it's near the Shacklebolts," Sylvia whispered fearfully. "They're friends of my dad's."

Guinevere looked up at the path the snake was traveling in the sky. She swore she could smell burning. "No one is safe…" she whispered.

Then another gear clicked, and she gasped out loud from the noise it made in her head.

"What?" Sylvia asked.

"Sirius Black – he's a Death Eater."

"Oh, God damnit, Gwen – "

"No, he has to be! It makes perfect sense."

"After leaving with James Potter, Ivy Dumbledore, Frank Longbottom, and Remus Lupin? How do you figure that one, Gwen? Start talking sense!"

Guinevere shook her head, certain that she had it right. "His brother died under mysterious circumstances that no one will talk about. Besides… they keep saying that it's the people closest to you that you have to beware of."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Jacquelyn said shakily. "Let's go home, I don't want to be here."

"I agree," Sylvia decided. "Are you coming, Gwen? You shouldn't stay here."

Guinevere nodded mutely and followed Sylvia in the opposite direction. Away from the acid-colored sky, away from the frightened huddled masses, and away from the house where the Order of the Phoenix was currently fighting to keep the rest of the Shacklebolt family alive.

**NOW**

Guinevere awoke to the sound of a muffled scream.

It wasn't the first time that she had heard it. But each time it became harder for her to believe that it was real. Because it was always just the one scream, and it seemed to come from downstairs, which didn't make sense. And afterwards she never heard anything else, so maybe she was just imagining it.

But tonight, she heard floorboards creaking downstairs.

They were footsteps, of course. And they were moving…

It sounded like they were moving outside. Guinevere sat up in bed, threw the covers off and stood, cringing when her feet came into contact with the cold floor.

The screaming was Sirius, then. It had to be, there was no other possibility, but why?

She shivered.

Guinevere pulled her robe off of a chair nearby, left her bedroom and walked to the end of her hallway, where there was a window to the backyard. The moon was about half full, providing enough light that she could make out the soft details of Sirius stepping out into the brisk March night air. He sat heavily on the wooden bench, wearing only a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, not nearly enough clothing for weather that was not quite spring yet. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and staring out.

After another few minutes, he ran a hand through his hair and his back rose and fell in a sigh. Guinevere had the odd urge to shout down to him that he should get back inside, but she was sure that he would be upset to find out that he had woken her, so she kept quiet.

She thought that maybe she should cast a warming charm on him. It wouldn't last long, and she would have to duck out of sight after she had done it, but maybe he would get the hint or realize how cold he should be, and get back indoors.

Part of her was laughing at herself. Seven months ago, she would have hoped that he caught cold and died out there. But somewhere along the way, she'd found that she would miss that damn motorbike if it disappeared one day. She would miss hearing him sing to himself quite loudly in the morning while he was taking a shower. Though it was obnoxious and sort of juvenile, he did have a fine voice.

The categories had changed. He was her neighbor now, her partner, and, though she hesitated to admit it, her friend.

A friend who annoyed her beyond capacity, and whom she fought with quite frequently, but honestly, when was Sirius Black not arguing about something? And when was she not feeling confrontational? A character flaw that suited them both, she supposed.

He was oddly calming, in a way. That was a word she never would have associated with Sirius Black half a year ago, but he was. Whenever she had one of her frequent panic attacks at work, he always knew how to bring her down and make her focus. Whenever Bruce exasperated her, he always got her to shrug it off. Codger was thrilled at what a great team they seemed to make, and was thoroughly congratulating himself on having the instinct to put them together, despite how they had protested.

But there were still secrets. She hadn't met the real him yet, she was certain of that, though she felt like she kept getting tiny glimpses. Part of her almost suspected that he was doing it on purpose, his most effective way yet of teasing her, torturing her.

And that was why she was staring out her window at him in the middle of the night. Because he would have never let her see this of his own accord. Just another secret that she had unlocked without his knowledge. She smiled. She was becoming a good detective.

Not good enough, though, because he was still sitting outside in the bitter cold while she tried to figure out exactly what had driven him there. What would make him scream in the middle of the night like that?

She had a funny feeling that she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. Those were the secrets that she knew he would keep viciously guarded. And he had reason – it was none of her business. She had no right to tell him otherwise. So she'd had a shitty marriage and virtually no human contact outside of her twin brother and work colleagues for the past several years –

He'd lived in hell.

What's more, he'd come out the other side and still found enough left in his heart to try and rebuild what he had lost.

Every once and a while, she grabbed these ideas out of some strange contemplative section of her brain, and realized that she had to let go of her preconceptions about him. She couldn't imagine the idea of losing so much time and then having to start over from scratch. She knew that she wouldn't have had the strength to do that. He did. And then had the ability to act like it wasn't a struggle every day for him to maintain it. Even she believed him, most of the time.

But to have to remember at night?

She saw him run a hand over the inside of his forearm, and her suspicions were confirmed. As if he could block the number out, or erase it. If only he could.

He stood up, and Guinevere briefly hoped that he was going back inside. She only had that thought for a second, however, because there was a sudden 'pop'.

And Sirius was replaced by a big black dog.

The same big black dog that came out to comfort her in that backyard whenever she was restless.

The same big black dog that she talked to about everything that bothered her.

The same big black dog that blinked up at her knowingly when she sighed.

The same big black dog that she _scratched behind the ears…_

Oh, Sirius Black was going to die a painful and horrific death.

As soon as possible.

But she couldn't do it right now, because at the moment the dog was bounding around the yard, chasing rats from under bushes, barking at the wind. And she wasn't going to kill a harmless dog, especially not one that carefree and joyful…

How had she not known that it was him? She knew he was an Animagus. It would have been convenient for Remus' transformations if one of his friends had a canine form. Sirius never saw the dog himself. And the eyes… they had the same damn eyes. She had noticed it, but she couldn't make the connection. Damn him.

Fine. Two could play at that game.

Guinevere pulled her robe tightly around her and crept lightly to her door. Upon opening it, a chilled wind blasted her in the face, but she simply grit her teeth and rushed down the steps. She tread as softly as she could around the building and finally made it to the backyard. She waited until the dog was turned around and then quickly leapt onto the bench in the place Sirius had occupied not two minutes ago. The seat was still warm, which she was thankful for, as it was positively freezing outside.

The dog heard the shifting behind him and turned around. When he spotted Guinevere, he tilted his head curiously, almost suspiciously.

Guinevere smiled. "Hello, there. Didn't expect to see you out here this late at night," she said cheerfully, acting surprised, as though she hadn't even noticed him. "Or should I say, this early in the morning? What're you doing out here? Did the Missus kick you out of the house?"

Her teeth were chattering uncontrollably, which the dog must have noticed because his gaze shifted down to her bare feet. He seemed to give a scolding growl before walking over and lying down on them, the warmth of his fur and body keeping them from stiffening up and getting frostbite.

Guinevere looked down at the animal, amused. "You don't have to do that. I can just tuck my feet up underneath me."

The dog looked up at her, almost seeming to quirk his brow, as if to say "if you're dumb enough to come out here now, there's no way that I'm going to trust you to take care of yourself".

She smirked. "Oh, really now. You don't need to be so protective."

The dog nudged his nose against her hand, indicating that he wanted to be patted or scratched. Guinevere jumped in her seat. "Ah, wet nose! Wet, cold nose that you should keep away from my hands!"

The dog then audaciously proceeded to rub his nose against her ankles. Guinevere shrieked and withdrew her feet, pulling them up onto the bench with her. The dog rolled over onto his back as she pulled away, and was… _grinning _at her.

Bastard had the nerve to grin.

"Oh, so it's just a game to you then, isn't it?" Guinevere said, trying not to smile, drying her ankles off with the edge of her robe.

The dog yipped and rolled back onto his stomach, his tail wagging with a maddened zeal. He definitely wanted to play.

She thought briefly of indulging him, but quickly pushed the thought to the back of her mind. It was entirely inappropriate, after all.

"No, I think you should go inside now," she said, motioning with her head back toward Sirius' flat.

The dog tilted his head again, this time confused. The big puppy eyes blinked up at her adorably. _His _eyes.

"Really," Guinevere half-reproached, a smile lighting her eyes, "you'll catch cold out here, Sirius."

The dog's eyes widened and he stood warily. His ears folded back onto his bowed head and he backed away from her slowly. She heard a soft whine.

"We don't have to talk about it tonight," she said carefully. Clearly, he had not expected this, and even in canine form it was throwing him for a loop. "You don't even have to transform back. Just don't stay out here for much longer, it's far too cold."

She stood up from the bench and started walking back to the front as fast as she could, her feet protesting with every icy step. She had gotten about halfway when she felt something furry brush under her hand.

The dog was trotting at her side. She didn't say anything.

When they reached Sirius' door, the dog pushed it open with the top of his head (it had already been left open a crack), and dove inside. Guinevere ran up the stairs to her door. She didn't go inside until she saw Sirius' door close a few seconds later, a human hand drawing the front window curtains closed a moment afterward.

* * *

Remus trudged up the stairs wearily. The day had been too long, too arduous, and definitely too dull. He was even boring himself with the lessons he had given that day. The students didn't blame him – they knew that his schedule had gotten a tad more complicated in the past couple of months. But still, he needed to be around fewer people for a while. He was going to have dinner upstairs and read. Yes, reading sounded good… 

And then his ears were greeted by the sound of sobbing as he stepped into Ivy's office.

"Oh, Ivy, luv, what's wrong?"

He watched as his wife tried to wipe away the tears, tried to wipe away the redness around her eyes, tried to blow her nose hard enough so that she wouldn't sound stopped up when she spoke. She failed at all three.

"Stupid baby books," she muttered, shuffling stacks of things on her desk and ignoring the open blank book in front of her. "They have a whole section in this baby book that we're supposed to fill in for her about 'Baby's Parents', you know? So that the baby has some sort of record, I guess, before we fill it up with her pictures and everything. And they have a place where you're supposed to put pictures of 'Mother and Father As Children' and 'Mother and Father's Family and Friends'. I don't know why, but I was strangely possessed to do it now…"

Remus held his breath for a moment, inwardly wincing at what he knew had happened. Then he tsked at her gently and pulled a chair up next to hers, turning her chair so she faced him.

Ivy gathered a few glossy squares of paper in her hands, which he knew were photos. He didn't have to look at them to know the faces that he would find.

"I don't think about her as much as I should," Ivy said softly. "Sometimes, I feel like I shouldn't, especially when I look at Sirius and I remember that it's been worse for him. His connection with James was something so special…." Ivy pulled her handkerchief off of her desk and wiped futilely at her eyes again. "But she was my best friend. My _best friend_. I never found another, no one like her. There's no one that I can just share everything with – "

"You have me," Remus whispered encouragingly.

Ivy nodded vigorously, afraid that she might have hurt his feelings. "Oh, I know, I know that. But it's not the same thing, Remus. I need her, especially right now. God, I need her help with this. She was so calm and easy through the whole thing, I just don't know how she did it. And I miss how easy she was, I miss how she made all the problems in the world go away. She was so easy to love."

Remus understood. Lily was a very singular woman, someone who couldn't be compared to others simply because she defied everyone's expectations. Straight-laced and smart, with a real taste for adventure and a great capacity to love. And she had always created a sense of home around them all. Her kitchen, her parties, her outings, her big family. It had been hard to get that sense back without her.

"I want to talk to her," Ivy said quietly. "It doesn't even have to be about anything important, I just want to talk and hear her laugh about something stupid. I want to make some tea and sit down next to her, and I want her to be graceful and happy and sharp, just like she always was."

She put the pictures down, trying to distance herself from what she was saying, but it only seemed to drag her in more. "I miss my father."

Remus shut his eyes. He hadn't seen Ivy's father, Gladwin, since before he and Ivy had their falling out, and he had never really talked with Ivy about how or when he had died.

"He would have wanted to be around for this."

Remus nodded in agreement.

"So would my mother," Ivy said with an attempted smile. It seemed to get harder and harder for her to summon a smile when she mentioned her mother, who'd been dead since she was fourteen. Remus imagined that not having her around now was especially painful. He tended not to think much on his own family for that same reason – there was too much to regret.

"She would have loved you, you know," Ivy whispered. "She always said that the problem with the world was that there weren't enough gentle people in it. She would have loved you so much…"

He always felt a particular tug somewhere in his chest whenever Ivy inferred that she thought he was gentle. He knew it was silly, but in the back of his mind he was always so relieved that that's what she saw in him. Because then for a moment, he wasn't really a monster and the scars didn't matter – that wasn't what she saw.

And he felt a peculiar sense of contentment when she said that her mother would have loved him. Ivy held so much by what that woman had thought, alive or not. If Ivy thought that her mother would have loved him, then that just gave him more family, even if he would never meet her. One more person in his life than he'd ever thought he'd have. Because he should have been alone, but somehow he was continually surrounded by some of the most loving, generous, accepting people in the world. That had to count for something.

But now he had to figure out how to dry her eyes. He knew that hormones played a big part in all of it, but he also knew that it just wasn't healthy for her to be so depressed. She had to let him take the weight of it. That was his job for now, he could shoulder the pain for her, the same way that she always did for everyone else.

"Ivy," he said quietly, "you don't have to be sad about this. Not now. Right now you have far too much to be thankful for. You know that. Don't let all of this overwhelm you." He indicated the photographs and the baby book with a tip of his head and sighed. "I won't say that they would want you to be happy, because I think that's obvious, and it's a pointless cliché that doesn't make anyone feel better. But _I_ want you to be happy…" He leaned forward and placed a hand on her belly. "… and so does she, I'll wager."

Ivy covered his hand with both of hers and heaved a short, soft laugh. The kind of laugh that said, _I give up. You take it from here._

And he was ready, and he did. He felt like he was starting to get the hang of this, of her. Knowing when to take and when to give back. Knowing when to tug and when to be pulled.

He must be getting it because she climbs into his lap and buries her head in his chest, but then she says, "I'm sorry I'm so needy right now. I'm not really this fragile – "

"Does it matter if you are?" he interrupted.

This gives her pause. "No," she decided finally. "I guess not. Not with you."

He breathes in the scent of _Ivy-hair_ and _old-photographs_ and _his-daughter_.

"Right answer," he sighed in a whisper.

"You're having a philosophical day, aren't you?" she half-teased.

He laughed softly. The kind of laugh that says, _thank God you're always here to keep me on the ground._

"I suppose I am."

She can't stay vulnerable for long, it makes her uneasy, and she is so damn programmed to take care of everyone, so she soon asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

He shook his head in the negative once.

"I'm hungry," she said, because she knows that saying that she wants _him_ to eat will not get him to do it if he's comfortable in the chair. And well… she is hungry too. She's _always_ hungry now.

He smiled. "What's for dinner tonight?" he asks.

She looked up questioningly. "… Steak and… pasta?"

"That's a nice unusual combination."

"Does it sound good?"

"You know me. Steak is always fine as long as it's rare. And pasta provided that it's not pasta salad."

She snorted. "You and cold food…"

"It defeats the purpose," he said defensively. "Heating something up only to refrigerate it for three hours…"

"Can't even get you to eat cookies if the chocolate chips aren't melted…"

"Why are we suddenly getting on my eating habits?" he asked the ceiling as Ivy brushes her nose against his jaw.

"We're not," she insisted. "…So steak and… pesto?"

"Wonderful."

"Good," she said, kissing his cheek. "Bindy will probably be up here in a minute to find out what we want."

"Oh, good," Remus exhaled. "So we can just sit here."

"Yes, we can."

Remus looked to the photographs on Ivy's desk and thought of the past. But today he made sure that whatever he remembered made him smile.

* * *

The incident that happened the next day was almost comical for anyone who had the good fortune to be there. 

Remus could tell that Ivy was a little off-balance that day. He could smell the difference in the hormones and was ready for drastic changes.

Ivy and Ginny were going over papers that Ivy needed mailed off, while Clayton sat in the corner. It was almost amusing to Remus how he seemed to sulk now, but there was also something in the man's expression that he didn't like. He couldn't quite place the feeling, he just knew that it was wrong.

Clayton seemed to take the news of Ivy's pregnancy the hardest, hardly being able to speak for a week. Remus wasn't sure why the news would bother him so much, but he was fairly sure that he didn't want the answer, so he left it alone. If Ivy didn't make any mention of odd behavior, then he had no reason to suspect him of any wrongdoing, and he would continue to be as courteous as he was capable of being to the man. Which wasn't _that_ courteous, naturally, but at least he made an effort, which was more than could be said for the Texan.

And so Remus sat off to the side with a pile of essays in his lap, grading at his leisure. He often abandoned his office early these days to make sure that he was with Ivy as much as possible. He didn't want to miss out on any of this. The students knew where to find him if they really needed extra help anyway.

Suddenly, Ivy groaned in exasperation. Remus looked up from his latest essay, where his panicked third year student was desperately trying to show that she didn't need to copy the textbook word for word to prove that she knew about grindylows –

"These were supposed to go out yesterday!" Ivy moaned, pulling a few rolls of parchment out of the pile. "I can't believe I forgot this. God, I'm just going to have to go drown myself in the lake and hope that the squid takes pity on me and eats me – "

"Surely, it can't be as bad as all that," Remus said casually, setting his quill down on the bookshelf behind him.

Ivy twisted in her chair, glaring daggers at him, and he instantly knew that he had said the wrong thing. "Well, maybe _you'd_ like to send a letter to the Minister of Magic, explaining why the report was late!" she snapped.

Remus caught Ginny shooting him a small, sympathetic smile as she tied the parchment to the nearby owl and gave him a special treat to make sure that he hurried. She knew as well as he did that the Minister wouldn't care if the report came a day late, he knew everything that was happening at Hogwarts. Most importantly, he knew of Ivy's condition, so he wouldn't press the issue.

But Ivy was in a state, and had absolutely no intention of getting out of it. She yanked at handfuls of her hair, still scowling at her husband for suggesting that the problem was not as tragic as she had made it sound. "Oh, I'm just a mess! I must look like a wreck, I just haven't been sleeping and…"

Ginny was at her side, rubbing her back in gentle circles, trying to calm her down.

"Do ya wanna take a nap?" Clayton suggested from the corner.

Ivy's head shot up again. "Why? Do I look tired?"

"No!" Remus interjected quickly, making sure to shoot Clayton a 'how thick _are_ you?' glance before setting aside his papers and giving her his full attention. "No, of course not. You look beautiful and rested."

Ivy grunted. "Well, that sounded like a programmed response. I must really be in bad shape."

Ginny shook her head fervently. "No, you're fine. Men just never know what to say."

Ivy laughed. "You're too young to know that."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "No, the intelligence level is about the same for gents my age. I don't think they ever get it."

Remus made a mental note in the back of his mind to make sure that he or Sirius had a chat with Harry. Apparently, the young man's talking skills weren't up to par.

Clayton had opened his mouth again like he was going to speak, when the door to Ivy's office was thrown open. Severus Snape stormed in, looking dangerously annoyed, even irate. Remus held his breath.

"Headmistress," the Potions Master hissed, barely attempting to sound respectful, "I sent Draco into the storerooms today to get certain materials for class, and he came back and told me that we were out of many key items that I always keep in stock. Now, I know that you normally put in all the orders for classroom inventory, but I have told you that I am capable of doing that myself for my own class. You insisted, however, so now I must insist that if you are going to continue ordering these items, you must at least order them on time!"

Ginny wisely stepped in, as Ivy had been looking rather pale and weak from the moment Snape entered her office. "It's all right Professor, I sent out the order today, it'll only be a day or two before you receive what you need. Just a slight delay – "

"Ms. Weasley, do not interrupt me when I am not speaking to you," Severus barked angrily. "This conversation does not concern you, so kindly remove yourself from the room, or stand somewhere where I will not see that ridiculously bright hair."

Ginny abruptly closed her mouth and, glaring at her professor, stepped over to the side, close to where Remus was now standing.

Severus did not notice Ginny's glare, however, because he was now staring at the Headmistress in nothing short of absolute fear. This could only have been caused by the woman's expression, which disturbed him very much indeed. Ivy's eyes were now shimmering as though she was about to burst into tears, her bottom lip quivering like that of a scolded child.

"Why do you talk to all the students like that?" Ivy asked in a choked voice. "They don't deserve that. Look how much you've upset her!" She motioned to Ginny without looking at her, as though she could tell that Ginny's heart was broken by pure intuition. Severus shifted slightly on his feet, taking a short breath like he wanted to say something and bow out of the line of fire as gracefully as possible.

But Ivy was now in the midst of it – it was definitely her 'hysterical' time of day. She continued on at a frantic pace, everyone in the room keeping quiet out of terror.

"You're always so mean! I don't understand what made you like that, but would it kill you to show some human compassion now and again, Severus? You act like you hate everyone!"

Her voice was sobbing, though no tears were rolling down her cheeks… yet.

"Headmistress – " Severus tried –

No such luck.

"And then you come in here and yell at me when I'm tired and having a bad day, and it's just not my damn fault for everything, you know, I mean Minerva was the one who _insisted_ that I become Headmistress after Albus died, and you obviously think that you could do a better job, so why don't you – "

"Headmistress, I didn't mean to insinuate that – "

"_But you did!_" Ivy shouted accusingly, rising to her feet and leaning toward Severus, who was fortunately standing on the other side of her desk. "You hate me! And I always knew that you did, but you could at least attempt to cover up your contempt once and a while! Especially when I'm like this! _This is definitely not the best time to come in and yell at me, Severus!_" She pointed to her swollen stomach as if that was perfect evidence. "And if my child has emotional problems from the time she comes out of the womb, I will be able to trace it back to this moment, because I'm most assuredly not composed and calm and gentle the way a mother _should be!_"

And with a furious yell she slumped back into her chair. There was a pout on her face that was almost angelic, as she said defeatedly, "I need some chocolate." Then she opened her right desk drawer, pulled out a half-eaten bar of Honeydukes chocolate, broke off a piece and stuck the corner of it into her mouth so she could suck on it in a dejected manner.

Remus slowly walked up behind her, half-expecting her to whirl around and start screaming at him. He shot Severus a sympathetic glance and motioned with his eyes toward the door. The least he could do was bail him out of the uncomfortable scene. "See you tomorrow at breakfast then, Severus."

Snape nodded curtly, backing away from the desk just one pace too fast to fool anyone into thinking that he wasn't terrified. "Certainly." His eyes shifted over to Ginny. "One or two days will be quite sufficient, Ms Weasley. Thank you for you assistance." He looked like he wanted to gag himself for uttering words of thanks to anyone from the Weasley family, but he stiffened up even straighter and left the office in a subtle rush.

Remus was standing next to Ivy's chair when he felt her head tip to rest against his hip. He placed a hand on her back and looked down at her worriedly.

But Ivy looked fine, if a little out of breath.

"That was one for the records, I think," she said softly with a humble smirk.

* * *

The protestors were outside the school again, but this time the staff decided to ignore them, and told the students not to walk the grounds for the day. They thought that maybe testing the patience of the protestors would be a good way to see how far these people were willing to go. Two Ministry guards had been stationed at the gates; Ivy had insisted that the Minister of Magic send some sort of team to help her staff keep a constant watch on the gate and ensure that nothing else was strung up in the future. 

Ivy was rather angry that the Ministry hadn't vocally spoken out against the protestors after the incident of the werewolf body, but they seemed to be keeping fairly quiet on the subject. The Minister claimed he felt that it would aggravate the situation too much.

She had been expecting some letters from the Ministry that morning, but was rather alarmed when an owl dropped a letter on her desk from the Minister that was marked 'Urgent'. She hadn't been expecting anything important.

Quickly, she unrolled the parchment, and was surprised to find the Minister's own hasty scrawl (normally he dictated letters, and his quill had never been quite good at duplicating his handwriting). She read the letter carefully:

_Headmistress Dumbledore,_

_I regret to inform you that I have just been made aware of a difficult situation involving your husband, Professor Lupin. It seems that the body of a muggle was found in the Forbidden Forest recently, and the cause of death looks to be a werewolf attack that happened some time ago. Information has also come to me by different anonymous sources, claiming that your husband had trouble with the Wolfsbane Potion a few transformations ago and that he was loose in the Forbidden Forest for a time. _

_This puts the Ministry in a difficult spot, as the body was discovered by a group of the protestors who happened to be skirting the edge of the forest during a rally. I had requested that they keep the matter quiet until we can know the facts for certain, but they are not heeding my suggestion, and mean to make this matter public._

_As a result, I feel that I must detain your husband for a time to diffuse any mass panic that might arise when the accusations are made. There will be law enforcement officers coming to Hogwarts today to collect your husband. I am writing you this letter to make sure that you and staff are prepared for this, something that I should not do, but I wanted to make sure that –_

But Ivy dropped the letter and grabbed up her cloak, racing out of her office as fast as her swollen feet would carry her.

On the staircase, she ran straight into her husband, almost not seeing him because she was looking so hard.

He grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. "Slow down – "

" – But Remus – "

"I already saw," he said in a strained voice, handing her a copy of the Daily Prophet. Ivy caught a quick glimpse of a mutilated human body before shutting her eyes and crumpling the paper up furiously.

"Ivy – "

" – It couldn't have been you."

"Ivy, we don't know – "

" – No, it couldn't have been you, you weren't out there for more than a half hour by yourself!"

Remus stared at her seriously. "A great deal can happen in that amount of time."

"No! It wasn't, I know it wasn't, they're just lying again! There are definitely other werewolves running around in the Forbidden Forest, it wasn't you!"

"If that's the case, then we'll be able to straighten it out, but for now – "

" – They're coming to arrest you."

Remus stopped abruptly, cutting Ivy with the silence. But he didn't look surprised, and that hurt her more, squeezing her ribcage until she had to gasp for breath.

"When?" he asked calmly.

"Today. The Minister sent me a letter to let me know." She laughed cynically. "Like he was doing me some sort of big favor…"

Remus nodded determinedly. "Then they'll be here soon. We should go out to meet them."

"_What?_"

"It will look very bad if they have to come in and get me," Remus explained. "We have to act like we aren't shocked by it, or it will make everything worse."

Ivy wished that she could use one of her hormone-driven temper tantrums to dissuade him, but she knew that he was being the rational one, as usual, and she needed to listen to him. So she nodded, and linking her arm tightly in his, she followed him downstairs and outside to the gates, incapable of thinking of something to say that would help him.

The protest group seemed to have tripled in size from the last time. Ivy couldn't hear anything over the droning cries and Cynthia Dammers' amplified shrieking. Minerva, Severus, Flitwick, Sprout, and Hagrid were already at the gates. Apparently, they had taken it on themselves to cancel classes for the day and handle the problem.

But Ivy saw someone she didn't expect standing with her staff and the Ministry guards at the gate.

"Sirius?"

When he saw the two of them heading toward the gates, Sirius' expression went panicked and he rushed toward them.

"You shouldn't be out here!" he scolded. "We've got everything under control. Codger sent me out here as soon as he read the morning paper. Guinevere should be here soon too, she was just late coming in today. But you need to get back inside, they're going to go crazy with you out here."

"No, Sirius, if they're coming to arrest me, then I can't wait inside for it."

Sirius' eyes widened. "They're going to arrest you?"

"The Minister sent Ivy a letter."

"Bloody hell, Remus…"

Sure enough, a few moments later, the protestors were clearing a path. A file of officers from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were making their way toward the gates. Ivy could only stare as Minerva told Hagrid to let them in, the older woman's face sharp and rigid with barely concealed anger.

The head officer stepped up to Remus, taking no account of Ivy, though she was still holding onto her husband's arm desperately.

"Remus Lupin?"

Remus nodded politely.

"We have a warrant and are taking you into custody for the murder of a human while in werewolf form in the Forbidden Forest. Can I trust you to cooperate?"

"Certainly," Remus answered softly, keeping his cool eyes locked with the eyes of the man in front of him.

The protesting crowd had gone silent, straining to hear the exchange between Remus and the officer. But Cynthia Dammers couldn't keep quiet for long.

"Look at the guilt on his face! You can see the evil lurking under that sinful mask! How did it feel, Mr. Lupin? Did you enjoy ripping apart that defenseless man?"

Remus battled against the urge to look down, to tear his gaze away from all of the people. But he knew if he did he would look guilty, and though he wasn't sure of what he had done, he could not afford to look guilty.

And then another man came forward from behind the row of officers. He had claw marks on one cheek, and Remus recognized the insignia on the robes all too well…

The Werewolf Capture Unit.

What was it he had said to Ivy not long ago about living his nightmares?

"We'll take it from here," he told the chief officer in a gruff rumble. His eyes stayed fixed on Remus, who he was staring at with undisguised loathing. "Mr. Lupin…" he said slowly. "We've been keeping tabs on you for quite some time."

Remus kept his face stony and impassive. Capture Unit operatives had reputations for trying to provoke the ones they took into custody. Adding charges was a pastime for some of these men.

"They call you the Tamed Wolf back at the office, did you know that?"

Sirius bristled a few feet away, his wand at his side as though he was actually thinking about using it on the man.

Remus managed a thin smile and a short laugh. "No, I didn't."

The Capture Unit captain smiled back, an expression that didn't suit his face. "Will you look at that, chaps? He has a sense of humor!" He turned back to Remus and took another step toward him. "You know, most of you don't have that."

"I imagine it would be hard for many of us, since most are homeless and alone," Remus answered back evenly. He was fully aware of how the captain had quickly placed Remus into the category of 'them'. The werewolves. The ones that parents told their children stories about to get them to behave. That was fine. Remus was fully prepared to defend others like him, if that's what they wanted to talk about. But he knew that wasn't what the captain was trying to get at.

The captain was nodding like they were actually having a civil conversation. Then he stepped forward again, getting right into Remus' face, staring him down. He was a tall man, about the same height as Remus and twice as wide. Clearly, he enjoyed using his build to assert dominance

Remus felt Ivy's arm tighten around his as she leaned back, fighting against her flee impulse. He sometimes felt that they communicated on a much more basic level now that she was pregnant. They didn't have to talk about things so often, they just felt them. And her instincts, powerfully awakened in her maternal state, were usually right in tune with his, as they were now.

Remus wanted Ivy somewhere else. Anywhere else right now.

"Sense of humor or not," the captain snarled, "I know how you are, Mr. Lupin. There are certain things that can't be stifled, no matter how many serene faces you put on, no matter how polite you are and how well you interact with normal people. You still eat your meat rare. You still dream about death and carnage. And you still get rough in bed when the moon gets closer to full circle," he smiled with a sneer as his eyes turned on Ivy. "Am I right, Ms. Dumbledore?"

Ivy didn't answer. She narrowed her eyes and stared right past the captain's shoulder, refusing to look at him.

"There's no need to be shy with us, Ms. Dumbledore," the captain continued. "We've been dealing with his kind for decades, most of us. You must care about him a lot to marry him – I've never seen one of these marriages work out, in all honesty. Especially not with the males, they have a tendency to want to roam a bit. Don't like to be tied down."

Sirius seethed, unclenching his wand hand only when Remus shot him an admonishing glance.

Ivy fought the urge to snap back at the captain. Because he didn't know her husband at all. If there was anything that Remus Lupin craved more than anything in the world, it was four walls and a roof, and home, and a place to belong, and the same person by his side every night. She felt it every time he fell asleep next to her.

Roaming was not something that Remus Lupin liked to do. He hated impermanence and stepping outside his comfort zone. He hated uncertainty, and no matter how much of his feral side was on display, that need for familiarity dominated his life. No surprises.

But she couldn't tell that to this man because he would laugh. All he saw was a beast dressed as a man, parading around with a real woman on his arm as though he could trick everyone into believing that he was like them. And that's all he would ever see.

When Ivy didn't answer again, he turned back to her husband. The protestors hadn't been making a sound, so desperate to hear the conversation. But the captain wasn't raising his voice – he didn't care about having an audience. This was a personal moment, predator stalking prey. After all – you would need a monster to capture other monsters. Someone who understood their nature. And the captain seemed to enjoy the thrill of the hunt very much.

"I hear," he said quietly, "that the dementors can make you relive memories from your transformed state. That they can actually conjure up the memories that your conscious mind can't access, and show you what you've done during the full moons. Maybe then you'll be able to tell us what you did that night."

"Dementors?" Ivy said, feeling a trail of ice slither through her core.

He had gotten her to speak. The captain smiled again, a movement that made his mouth look like another scar on his face. "We can't risk someone this dangerous being held in a detention area at the Ministry – didn't someone tell you? Until he can be tried, he's going to be held in Azkaban."

"_WHAT?_" Sirius shouted, walking up behind Remus and yanking him backward, as though he could pull him to safety.

Ivy choked on the air she was breathing.

But Remus was alarmingly still and composed. He truly wasn't that surprised. Looking over his shoulder, he locked eyes with his friend, who was still trying to drag him backwards as though he could simply remove Remus as a target. He pleaded with Sirius silently. _You have to let me go…_

Sirius' eyes darkened with fear and he shook his head doggedly. Remus didn't know. He didn't know about that place. And Sirius would be damned if he ever would.

But Remus' eyes pleaded again with phrases like _no choice_ and _this won't help_.

"Padfoot…" he whispered.

And Sirius felt something in him shatter because he didn't think he could take this. For him it was bad enough. But not for Remus, not Moony, not the one who sat quietly in the corner while James and Sirius tried to stop him from finishing his Potions essay. Not for the one who gave them that scolding, disappointed glare whenever they went too far on some prank, and wouldn't talk to them until they had admitted they were wrong. Not for the one who Sirius sat by in the Hospital Wing early in the morning while he tried to heal –

They would make him remember the full moons.

As if there weren't enough horrors in his life.

But Sirius had to let him go because Remus was right. He couldn't stop this, it was beyond his control. And he definitely didn't want to make it worse, something he'd always been rather good at in their youth. So he moved away slowly, allowing his friend the space he needed.

The captain had pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Just a precaution," he said in a tone that was almost businesslike. "You understand, of course. We have to make sure – oh, and I'll need your wand first."

It was amazing in that moment for Remus to realize how much of his identity was wrapped up in eleven-and-a-half inches of ash with dragon heartstring at the core. What was even worse was having to hand it over to someone like the man in front of him. He got an odd sort of mythical feeling that he had just handed his soul over to the minotaur, or maybe it would be weighed on a scale like the Egyptians depicted it. Either way, he was going to hell, he supposed, so it didn't really matter.

The captain circled around behind Remus, and pulled his hands to his back, forcing Ivy to let go of him in the process. As the handcuffs latched onto his wrists, Ivy saw him try to hide a wince.

But Ivy knew. She remembered what had happened the last time, she remembered it all too vividly. "You take those off him," she murmured dangerously.

The captain looked up, seeming a little surprised at the forcefulness in her tone. "It's not pure silver, that would kill him, we know. It's just five percent silver mixed with the steel. Takes the fight out of them, so they don't do anything stupid."

"It's law enforcement brutality," Ivy said furiously. "He hasn't done anything to warrant that treatment. Take the cuffs off."

The captain did not seem to like being ordered around by such a small woman, even with her red hair whipping about her face like flames, her blue eyes suddenly piercing and livid. "Look here, Ms. Dumbledore. This is standard procedure – "

"Standard?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "I think I'll talk to my office and find out exactly what _is_ 'standard' in these situations. Because I remember reading quite a bit on this – job requires it and all – and I don't remember seeing the word 'silver' anywhere under the 'capture' section in the law books. Not even under the section titled 'resisting arrest'."

The captain looked back and forth between Sirius and Ivy, as though he was deciding whose vocal chords he wanted to rip out first. "I would suggest that you both stop talking or we're going to have problems here."

"Going to?" Ivy shouted. "_Going to?_ You're taking away my husband, and you think that we're _going to_ have problems?"

Her voice was loud enough to reach the ears of the people standing on the other side of the gate. They stirred restlessly, eager to let the fight begin. They probably wanted a riot, and Ivy was ready to give them one now.

"Ms. Dumbledore, if you cause me anymore trouble, I will have you held in a cell at the Ministry overnight," the captain growled at her.

Ivy smirked cynically. "Oh, and I'm sure it would look great on your record to put a pregnant woman in the overnight lockdown," she scoffed.

Remus glared at his wife, in spite of everything. Now was not the time to be playing these games. "Ivy, don't – " But he stopped because the captain had just pushed his arms apart to keep him from talking, causing his wrists to dig into the handcuffs. He grit his teeth against the searing feeling across his skin.

Ivy blinked back the moisture in her eyes when she saw him hold his breath. "Doesn't anyone see this?" she shrieked. "It's silver! It's poisonous to him, and you're hurting him!"

The captain was now aware that there was an audience nearby, and not all of them were protestors. Many newspapers and magazines had arrived to cover the event, and were waiting to find out if the Headmistress' accusations were true.

"It's only five percent, it can't poison him," he snapped angrily, staring down at the petite woman.

Ivy strode over to her husband and pulled up the sleeves of his robes, inching the cuffs up to reveal red, raw skin. "But it can still burn him," she shouted. "What you're doing is abuse! You don't even have any proof that he's committed the crime, and you're torturing him already!"

Ivy stayed right with the captain as he tried to haul Remus back. To keep her out of his face, he shoved her away hard, causing Ivy to stagger backward into Minerva. "Stay back, Ms. Dumbledore – I meant what I said about holding you!" he bellowed.

"If you ever touch me again – " Ivy hissed treacherously.

And suddenly everyone was shouting at once. Minerva shrieked at the captain for daring to handle Ivy so roughly, Severus demanded information from the law enforcement officers, Sirius was cursing at the captain, and Hagrid declared that the next person to lay a hand on Ivy Dumbledore would have to deal with him, while Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick started in on reporting the law enforcement officers to the Ministry if they didn't put the Werewolf Capture Unit back in its place –

"_Everyone stop!_"

And they all went quiet at the sound of that supremely disappointed voice.

Remus lowered his volume, amazed at how loud he'd had to shout to get over them. He tried to smile, to make it look like he wasn't worried. "We can't fix any of this right now," he said entreatingly. "Starting a fight here won't solve anything, and I don't want to see any one get hurt." At those last words his eyes landed on Ivy, who was flushed and angry and unwilling to realize that he was talking to her more than anyone.

The captain was getting uneasy here. Too many eyes on the other side of the gate seemed confused, where they had been overjoyed. The ones on this side of the gate were too willing to fight. "Time to go," he barked brusquely, pulling Remus Lupin away.

"No," Ivy whimpered, but as she went to follow, hands held her back. She didn't know whose they were, but there was more than one set and they were stopping her from going to him. And she watched as Remus was led toward the gate, and thought of the first time she ever heard his transformation, the first time she heard that blood-curdling howl, and how much she had wished to help him, and how nothing had changed because she _still_ couldn't help him with anything. And she felt weak and lost, and suddenly she realized that her daughter was going to be born in less than three months, and everyone thought that her husband was a murderer, and she might _never see him again_ -

"Remus!"

And she ripped away from the hands holding her back, and rushed to him, though her feet protested with every pounding step and she felt that her back was going to snap in two.

He had stopped when he heard her voice, planting his feet firmly so that the captain couldn't move him without lifting him off the ground. The brawny man was beginning to look distinctly uncomfortable with the whole scene, but waited for what he assumed were some parting words.

When Ivy reached Remus, she grabbed the front of his robes and buried her fingers in the folds, the same way that she always did, but knowing that this time could be that last time made the action desperate and frail. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Don't you dare cry. That will be the first image they'll bring up," he said reasonably.

So she didn't cry. She kissed him instead.

And she didn't care that her lips were chapped and her tongue was cold, she kissed him passionately, because this was the last kiss, that was the only way she could see it, and she was glad that everyone was there to witness it. Especially the protestors.

They should know what they were tearing apart.

And they kissed until the captain pulled him away from her, which was far too quickly. And Remus lifted his head and shouted, "Sirius!"

Sirius came rushing forward, past Ivy, as Remus was now right at the gate. "What is it?" he asked, a note of helplessness in his tone that clashed with his always-steady voice.

Remus spoke quietly so Ivy wouldn't hear, but his voice rang with an intensity that Sirius had never heard before.

"Take care of them."

Sirius didn't have to answer. One look was exchanged, the same one that they had in childhood, old and primal in its meaning. The one thing that the wolf needed from his pack, the look that meant _I cover you._ And Remus knew he would.

And then Remus was led through the gates, which closed abruptly behind him.

Ivy screamed after him without warning, her hoarse, stricken voice shouting "_No!_" hysterically, sounding like a wounded animal. Her strength and sanity left her, and she started clawing at the gate in a vain attempt to tear in down. Sirius and Hagrid had to hold her back to make sure that she didn't hurt herself. She eventually sunk to the ground, her hands wrapped tightly around her stomach, weeping. Minerva turned away, on the verge of tears herself at the sight of Ivy.

Severus had slipped through the gate after the law enforcement officers, and was holding one of them back.

"I want to examine this body that they found," he demanded obstinately

"Well, it's in the Ministry, sir. I don't think they'll give you access."

"Don't be so sure…" was the response received.

The protestors had to be held off on each side, though Sirius noticed that some of the people amongst the crowd no longer seemed so vindictive after what they had just seen. Some had dropped their signs, and the many reporters that had been hoping to get a good riot story were now staring pityingly back toward the gate, at the crumpled woman on the ground that they were certain was soon to be called Remus Lupin's widow.

* * *

Clayton came up to talk to Ivy when he found out what had happened. He tried to calm her down, and told her how sorry he was. Sirius was surprised to find that the Texan seemed genuinely worried about Ivy and the baby. 

"I just can't believe that they would leave ya ta raise that child on yur own, Ivy," Clayton said slowly. "I hate ta ask this, but… do ya think that yur ready ta raise this kid all by yur lonesome?"

Ivy didn't answer him. It wasn't that she was offended. She was afraid of her answer.

Because she wasn't ready to raise a child alone. They had planned everything together. Everything that she saw for her daughter's future included the two of them. She couldn't edit him out of the picture.

What if she had to?

"And her bein' the child of a werewolf. That's gonna be real difficult in these times now. It woulda almost been easier if ya weren't…. Well, ya coulda just moved on with things, but now…" He looked dazed, almost like there was something complicated in his head that he wanted to say, but it wasn't coming out. Instead, he stood and told Ivy that he would be there if she needed anything, before leaving quietly.

Sirius stayed with Ivy for most of the day. He tried to get her to eat, but she was frantically writing letters and talking to people over the floo network, trying to get everyone to help her. Everyone seemed hesitant, although the mention of the silver in the handcuffs had turned a few heads. It seemed that no one would help Ivy, though, unless they were sure that Remus hadn't killed the person they had found. So Ivy spent the rest of the day searching through Ministry of Magic law books before crying herself to sleep.

Crying herself to sleep had taken about three hours, but Sirius didn't begrudge her one single tear. There was nothing he could have done to stop it anyway. He let her curl up on the couch with one of Remus' favorite books and sob while she quietly ran a hand over her belly. She told Sirius that Delilah never moved when she put her own hands on her stomach, only when it was Remus' hands, as though she knew it was him and was trying to communicate.

Delilah knew Remus was gone. She didn't move that evening as Ivy gently ran her hands in soothing patterns across her middle.

Sirius allowed Ivy to cry for the both of them. His mind was with his friend. In Azkaban.

Once Ivy had been asleep for half an hour, Sirius covered her with a blanket he found in the linen closet, and left her alone, making sure that the house elves were going to keep special watch over her and bring a fresh pot of tea every hour or so, so it would be there when she needed it. And then he let his feet carry him out of the school, off the grounds, and into Hogsmeade. Probably an hour or so later, Sirius found himself at the Ministry. He didn't quite remember how he had arrived, but he figured that if he had brought himself there, that was where he should be.

And he knew exactly who he was going to see.

After getting past lots of beady-eyed, power-hungry assistants, he finally made it to a small cell at the end of a dark, secret hallway. It was really more like a cage than a cell, the top of it not reaching the ceiling. But at least Sorsha wasn't in Azkaban. He could at least be thankful for that.

They had managed to keep her trial postponed in technicalities and red tape. Codger had wisely decided that they had to pick the right moment to get her a trial date. Tensions from the protest, and now from Remus' arrest today, were going to reach an all time high. They didn't want the Ministry to make Sorsha a precedent case for how they dealt with werewolves of the next generation unless they were sure that it would turn out in her favor.

And so Sirius found himself looking through bars at a young girl curled up in the corner. Ready to talk to her because he couldn't talk to the one person to he needed to see at that moment – the gray-eyed man now undoubtedly sitting on a dirty floor while the dementors came to visit their new blood.

Sirius had a good idea of the images that Remus was being shown about now. He knew what they liked to bring up first. Always the little things first. They didn't like to slam you with anything big until they had broken you down enough for it to be effective.

The guard at the other end of the hall had told Sirius to keep at least two feet away from the bars. So Sirius walked right up to cage and wrapped his hands around the iron beams, waiting for some sign that she knew he was there. He wasn't even sure if she was awake.

A minute passed, but the silence remained. Sirius didn't care. He had plenty of time to do nothing, as he was clearly quite useless. Couldn't stop James and Lily's death, couldn't stop Regulus' death, couldn't stop them from taking Remus to Azkaban, couldn't stop Ivy from ending up alone. Hell, he couldn't stop Peter from going to Voldemort, he might as well blame himself for that while he was at it…

What had happened to him? At the age of twenty he knew that he would have thrown himself in front of Remus and hexed that captain straight into St. Mungo's Hospital without blinking, and with no small amount of help from James. They would have never, never let them do anything to Remus, he was under their protection. Everyone knew that. Even when they were children everyone knew that.

But this time he'd had to stand by and watch it happen. And it wasn't just because Remus had told him to, because twenty-year-old Sirius never would have listened to that bloody rubbish, never would have allowed Remus to tell him that he was being irrational, because he _wasn't_ bloody rational. Remus knew that. And yet, this time he had stepped back, had realized that there was nothing he could do, and let them take his friend to the only place in the world that haunted his dreams.

What did that say about him? He couldn't tell whether he was broken or he had just grown up. He wasn't sure he liked either answer.

"They took your friend to Azkaban."

Sirius pulled his eyes away from the bars above her head and looked down at her. She hadn't been sleeping after all.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"They gave me a paper," she said, uncurling from the floor and sitting up. "They never give me papers, but they did today. They said it was a special treat."

"Bastards," Sirius hissed through his teeth. It would be just like them to make sure that she saw that.

"That's why you're here," Sorsha said shrewdly. "Trade one wolf for another today."

Sirius wouldn't lie to her about that. He couldn't even lie to himself about it. "I suppose that's part of it. But I came to check on you as well." He looked pointedly at the untouched food tray on the floor. "Doesn't look like you're taking good care of yourself."

"Food tastes terrible," she muttered.

"I would imagine so. You weren't honestly surprised by that, were you?"

"No," Sorsha snapped, narrowing her eyes. Then her expression softened, and she grabbed a strip of chicken off of the plate, holding it up to him. "They overcook their meat all the time."

"Ah," Sirius murmured with a nod. That one, he knew all about. Remus couldn't stand it when meat was overcooked, it was one of the few things that drove him absolutely crazy. He couldn't stomach the taste, claiming "it's like sawdust, all the flavor's gone", to which Sirius would come back by asking Remus when he'd ever eaten sawdust. Lily eventually had Remus check his own meat whenever she had people over for dinner, to make sure that his meal was cooked to his liking. He seemed to remember Ivy making fun of him about it a lot when they were younger, as she was generally the opposite in how she liked her meat cooked.

"They don't like me," Sorsha continued, ignoring the way Sirius' eyes glazed as his thoughts turned tangential. "They think I make trouble."

Sirius almost smirked. "Do you?"

"I'm… uncooperative," she said slyly. "They deserve it. They deserve to be bitten."

Sirius stared at her sternly. "You shouldn't say things like that."

She laughed, rocking back and forth a few times. "Why not? They do. They should know what it feels like, they should have to feel the crack-crack-crack of bones, and smell the blood everywhere. No one knows it except us – how important blood is."

Sirius almost made a snide comment about his parents seeming to know the importance, but the thought of it made him feel worse, so he kept quiet.

Sorsha didn't like the fact that he had nothing to say. He _always_ had something to say to her. She was desperate to understand why his friend's arrest would snuff him out like a candle, why he seemed to be fading, so temporary…

"They make us transform in these cages," she told him.

Sirius pressed his forehead to the bars and squeezed his eyes shut. "Damn," he whispered.

"I'm going to end up where your friend is."

"Don't say that."

"I am. No one helps us." Sorsha got up on her knees and crawled over to Sirius, placing her hands over his on the bars. "I'm going to end up where he is, and I want to know…" She bowed her head, an action that startled Sirius, so out of character for her.

"I want you to tell me about it."

"No, you don't."

"You're the only one who can prepare me."

"You're not going there."

Sorsha stood up and came close, her face an inch away from Sirius', but he didn't move. She reached up and took a lock of his hair between her fingers, tugging on it with an affectionate intensity. "Do you think your hair will ever turn gray?" she asked absently.

Sirius didn't answer because he knew that she wasn't really inquiring about what he thought. She was just musing to herself, a mind that was used to having to answer all of its own questions.

But then her mind came back on track and she looked carefully into his eyes.

"What does it feel like to know that you'll live and never see the sun again?"

"You can't think that way. That's how they beat you."

"They didn't beat you."

Sirius sighed. "I had something to hang on to."

"What was it?"

"My godson."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Not revenge? You were framed for murder."

The corner of his mouth tilted up. "And here I thought that you had no idea who I was this whole time."

She smiled. "Couldn't let your fame get to your head."

He gave a short bark of laughter. "'Course not…. But no. I used to think that it was about revenge. I thought that for a long time. But it always came back to Harry. No matter how much I wanted to kill Peter, I always wanted to be there for Harry more."

Sorsha's smiled faded and she took a step back. "I don't have what you had. I don't have people. I don't have something to hang on to."

"Sorsha, there must be something – "

"No, there's nothing!" she shouted. The guard leaned in to see what the trouble was, but Sirius raised his hands and motioned the man away.

"No family, no friends, not real friends, not like you have. Just people to hunt with, people who know how it feels to need the kill – "

"Sorsha, you're not going to end up there – "

"It's wrong!" she shrieked, reaching through the bars and grabbing Sirius by his robes, pulling him closer. Her eyes shown with sudden tears, her nose crinkling in disgust. "I don't belong here. I never wanted to live in your world! I didn't want magic and broomsticks and elves and owls! And now I have no choice, no one gave me a choice, and they'll lock me up, and they'll say I was a danger, but it was their fault that I became one in the first place – "

"I'm sorry!" he interrupted urgently, surprising even himself with the shout. "Damnit, Sorsha, I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I'm sorry that your parents didn't take care of you, and I'm sorry that you knew the wrong people while you grew up, and that you're standing behind bars now because people judge before they understand. I know what all of that is, okay? I've lived it, and known others who've lived it, and in the end it doesn't matter what they do to you because they do it to everyone – "

And Sirius suddenly understood _why_ Remus had been right today, what had always made his patient friend the better man.

"It doesn't matter what they do to you," Sirius said calmly, resting his head against the bars of the cage again, "it's how you take it. That's what distinguishes you in the end. How you bear up under everything that they use to break you…"

Sorsha let go of him slowly, her eyes reading his face with great care.

"You need him back."

Sirius snorted. "Yes, that's true. Always needed him, he was the rational one. Kept you grounded."

She shook her head. "Keeps _you_ balanced."

Sirius almost laughed. He nodded instead.

The guard entered the hallway, his keys jingling loudly on his belt.

"Time to go," Sorsha said simply. "Come back soon."

Sirius stepped back. "I will."

Sorsha listened to the soles of his boots echoing down the hallway before picking up her tray and throwing it at the bars of the cage.

* * *

Sirius Apparated back to Hogsmeade and took his time walking home. He wandered aimlessly for an hour or so before reaching his flat, and was shocked to find the lights on in his living room. He pulled his wand out. He never left the lights on. 

He opened the door slowly, noting that the locking charms he kept on the door had been stripped away. So someone had broken in.

Peeking his head inside, he saw someone sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, definitely a woman, her shoulders hunched and shaking.

He stepped in all the way. "…Guinevere?"

"Oh," came a strangled noise, and sure enough, Guinevere turned around. Her hair was a tangled mess, dark circles ran under her red eyes, and she was clutching a handkerchief in her hands with a grip so fierce that her knuckles had turned white.

"Sirius!" she muttered quickly. "Sirius, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I wasn't there today when they arrested Remus, I should have been there, I heard what they did, but I was detained, I got a letter from a hospital – "

"Slow down," Sirius implored. "I can never understand a word you say when you go on like that."

He walked over to the couch as Guinevere stood up. She faced him, her eyes on his boots, wringing her damp handkerchief between her fingers.

Sirius picked up the blanket he had on the back of his couch and wrapped it around Guinevere's shoulders. She looked like she needed it.

"So you didn't come into work because you got a letter from St. Mungo's?" he tried to clarify.

Guinevere shook her head, tugging at the edges of the quilt he had given her. "No, a muggle hospital. I would have come to Hogwarts, really, it's just I was in their hospital all day, and…"

Sirius didn't like this. "Why were you called to a muggle hospital?"

"Bruce…" Guinevere said softly. "He was… he was in a car crash. He was badly injured, they – they don't know if he's going to make it…"

Sirius froze. It made perfect sense. Things just always happened this way, didn't they?

_Peter is a traitor. James and Lily are dead._

Good things come in threes.

_Bad things come in twos._

"And…" Guinevere continued, clearly uncomfortable because Sirius hadn't said anything, "and I'm sorry I broke into your house, I just needed to talk to someone, but you weren't here, and I didn't know where you were – "

"I went to see Sorsha," he broke in quietly.

Guinevere nodded that she had heard, but she kept rambling, needing to finish the train of thought. " – and I didn't want to bother you at Hogwarts, if you were there with everything that was happening there, but I just – I didn't want to be alone, so I waited, I'm sorry, I probably gave you a fright when you saw the light on – "

But Sirius had stopped on the words _I didn't want to be alone_. He didn't want to be alone either, not now. They'd really had the same day, in an odd way. And he was glad that she was here.

" – and I thought that maybe I should – "

Sirius pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her tightly. Guinevere made a nervous noise in the back of her throat at first and stiffened, but she soon melted into his hold, gasping as she started to cry again softly. She tipped her head onto his shoulder, grabbing handfuls of his robes, feeling the rise and fall of his chest with his steady breathing.

And Sirius had no intention of letting her go because then they would both be alone again. So he stayed there, feeling puffs of breath against his neck as she tried to calm herself. He didn't really care if she cried, he wanted her to cry. When Ivy cried, there was nothing for him to do – the only person who could calm her was Remus, he knew that well enough. But with Guinevere, maybe he was helping. And the thought that he was helping made him feel solid again, brought him back down to earth after a day filled with the divine interference of Fortune. Maybe that bitch would make the wheel land somewhere else for a change.

For now, he would stay there as long as she let him.

* * *

I know! It's sad! But it won't be forever! I hope that you're still enjoying the story with all it's twists and turns. -hugs you all for letting her know what you think-  



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